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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify the behavioral indicators associated with professional commitment and the three components of organizational commitment (affective, normative, and continuance) in a sample of staff nurses. Specifically, the investigation used staff nurses' own perceptions of committed behavior as well as the behavioral indicators of professional behavior, extra-role activities, intent to quit, six month turnover, and supervisors' rating of citizenship performance to determine their contribution in explaining organizational and professional commitment.
Interviews conducted with staff nurses at the study institution were used as the basis for the development of the Nurses' Commitment Behavior Questionnaire (NCBQ). The NCBQ, along with the survey instrument, was sent to all registered nurses holding staff nurse positions at a mid-western acute care hospital. Findings of the study indicated the NCBQ achieved satisfactory standards for reliability, and factor analysis suggested one overall factor was being measured. The three forms of organizational commitment were found to be associated with all of the behavioral indicators with intent to quit explaining the largest amount of variance. Professional commitment was also associated with all behavioral indicators and was best explained by the NCBQ.
This exploratory study suggests that organizational and professional commitment can be behaviorally described. Nurses' commitment is manifested in variety of ways and this study supports the need to use a multi-foci approach, which includes nurses' own perspective, when describing professional and organizational commitment.
