The Relationship Between Organizational Commitment and Organizational Justice Among Health Care Workers in Ethiopian Jimma Zone Public Health Facilities

Beshea Deressa; Kebebe Adugna; Bezawit Bezane; Matebu Jabessa; Gemechis Wayessa; Alemi Kebede; Gelila Tefera; Yisalemush Demissie

doi:10.2147/JHL.S345528

The Relationship Between Organizational Commitment and Organizational Justice Among Health Care Workers in Ethiopian Jimma Zone Public Health Facilities

J Healthc Leadersh. 2022 Feb 3:14:5-16. doi: 10.2147/JHL.S345528. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Beshea Deressa¹, Kebebe Adugna², Bezawit Bezane¹, Matebu Jabessa¹, Gemechis Wayessa³, Alemi Kebede⁴, Gelila Tefera¹, Yisalemush Demissie¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of health policy and management, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
² School of Nursing and midwifery, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
³ Clinical governance and quality improvement, Jimma Medical Center, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of reproductive health and Nutrition, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Background: The healthcare service sector is confronting a global labor shortage. Despite this fact, health care professionals are still highly vulnerable to organizational injustice, which negatively influence organizational commitment, putting an additional burden on the health sector. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the correlation between organizational commitment and organizational justice among health care workers.

Methods: Facility-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 395 health care professionals in the Jimma zone. Four Hospitals and 10 health centers were involved in the study randomly. The sample was distributed proportionally based on the number of health care workers. To select individuals, a systematic random sampling method was employed. Data were collected through self-report questionnaire using modified Alan and Mayer scale to measure organizational commitment and Niehoff and Moorman scale to measure organizational justice. The validity of the tools was checked using the reliability coefficient alpha and it was >0.7. The collected data were cleaned and entered into EpiData software version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done.

Results: This study revealed that 212 (53.7%) of the respondents scored a low level of organizational commitment. About half of the participants, 202 (52.2%), judged organizational justice were fair. All organizational justice dimensions showed a positive and significant correlation with all organizational commitment dimensions. Thus, the finding revealed that overall organizational commitment and organizational justice had a strong and positive correlation (r = 0.695**, P < 0.01). From the regression analysis distributive justice (B = 0.382, 95% CI: 0.31-0.45), and procedural justice (B = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.06-0.283) were among the factors affecting organizational commitment.

Conclusion and recommendation: This study showed a strong link between organizational commitment and organizational justice. This suggests that organizational justice has been recognized as a motivator and factor influencing health care workers' organizational commitment. As a result, enhancing organizational justice can help to maintain the commitment of healthcare workers and the facility's capabilities.

Keywords: Ethiopia; commitment; health care tier system; health professionals; organizational justice.