Relationship between sense of coherence, health and work engagement among nurses

Abstract

Aim: To examine the sense of coherence among registered nurses and its relationship with health and work engagement.

Background: Sense of coherence is a global orientation to view life as structured, manageable and meaningful and have the capacity to cope with stressful situations. A high sense of coherence score indicates that an individual can understand, manage and attribute meaning to events in his or her life as well as in the work environment. Registered nurses face many workplace stressors that may be easier to manage with a strong sense of coherence; however, the effect of this score on their self-reported health status and work engagement remains unknown.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 109 registered nurses working in a long-term care setting responded to a self-administered questionnaire. Social support, work-related family conflicts, sense of coherence, self-reported health status and work engagement variables were analysed using multiple linear regression models.

Results: Nurses with a high sense of coherence score reported no work-related family conflicts (mean difference -6.91; 95% CI -10.65 to -3.18; p = .000), better health (r = .408) and greater work engagement (r = .223), compared to their peers with lower sense of coherence. The association between sense of coherence and self-reported health was confirmed by linear regression modelling (β = .276, p = .003).

Conclusions: Nurses with a higher sense of coherence had better health and greater work engagement. The work engagement variable showing the highest association with sense of coherence was dedication.

Implications for nursing management: Implementing interventions that increase sense of coherence among nurses can increase commitment to their work, to the institution and to building more engaged teams.

Keywords: long-term care; registered nurses; self-reported health; sense of coherence; work engagement; workplace.