A Capstone Proposal Presented in Partial Fulfillment
Master of Healthcare Administration
KAPLAN UNIVERSITY
The quality of life is a subjective feeling that is unique to an individual. It entails how they perceive their position and situation in a context that is characterized by the value systems of the society, their value systems and culture and how these elements compare to the personal and professional goals they had set, their worries about personal and professional life, and their personal standards of life (Daubermann & Tonete, 2012). The quality of work life relates to these perceptions as they relate to their work life, and how the result affects other spheres of life. The evolution of the economies from industrial-oriented economies to service-oriented economies as elevated the human resource as the most important factor of production.
There is increased emphasis on productivity. However the fact that the productivity of the human resources is dependent on several factors necessitates an exploration of the impact that some of these factors have on the productivity of the human resource. The significance, level of care, and nature of the work of health workers make their job stressful. Stress affects the perception of quality of life (Daubermann & Tonete, 2012). It is important to understand how this affects their productivity. This proposal seeks to establish the impact of quality of work life on the productivity of healthcare workers
Background
The following section will discuss the background of the topic. Different researchers have explored this topic through qualitative and quantitative methods. For instance, Hatam, Zarifi, Lotfi, Kavosi & Tavakoli (2014) aimed to determine how the quality of work life related with productivity as a variable. The study was specifically designed for the knowledge workers. The researchers found that 50% of the sampled population was not satisfied with the quality of work life. The researchers also found that another 50% reported a minimal satisfaction with the quality of work life. Hatam et al., (2014) also found that the conditions for 18% of the sampled population were unfavorable, and a significant 82% of the sampled population reported poor productivity. This is empirical evidence to support a hypothetical argument that poor quality of work life will manifest through poor productivity. This argument is supported by Hatam et al., (2014) who found that there was a statistically significant positive relationship between the quality of work life and the productivity of the knowledge workers. This implies that an increase in the perception of quality of work life will result in an increase in the productivity of the workers.
General Problem Statement
The general problem is that more employees in healthcare and other industries are increasing reporting poor quality of work life. This is significant, especially in healthcare where the patient safety and outcomes are reliant on a diligent and productive workforce. Narehan, Hairunnisa, Norfadzillah and Freziamella (2014) find that the quality of work life is strongly and positively correlated with the quality of care. The implication of this finding is that an increase in the quality of work life results in a positive increase in the quality of care.
The vice versa is also true where a decrease in the quality of work life also results in a decrease in the quality of care. Narehan et al., (2014) find that the improvement of the quality of work life helps promote the increased utilization of the skills of the healthcare workers. The improvement of the quality of work life also increases the involvement of the healthcare workers. Employees with better quality of life are more likely to enhance their internal skills, engage in more professionalism, and embed efficiency in their work practices. These elements, their significance and how they influence the patient outcomes, and the productivity of the health care workers necessitates the study of how the quality of work life affects the productivity of the workers in health care.
Specific Problem Statement
The specific problem to be addressed by the study is the effect of the quality of work life has on the nursing professionals. A study by Almalki, FitzGerald & Clark (2012) found that the factors that significantly predicted the dissatisfaction with the quality of work life was the imbalance of the needs of the family and those of the workplace, the scarcity of opportunities for professional development, lack of holidays during which the nurses can take time off work to rest and rejuvenate. Moradi, Maghaminejad & Azizi-Fini (2014) also finds that the fact that the nursing fraternity comprises the most people of all the members of the healthcare team. Riding in this fact, the nursing professionals should experience a high-quality work life in order to deliver a high quality of care. However, the finding that 60% of the nurses reported a moderate quality work life underscores the need for the present study Moradi, Maghaminejad & Azizi-Fini (2014). The researchers also found that 37.1% of the nurses experienced an undesirable quality of good work life compared to the 2% who reported a good quality work life.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this research is to determine the effect that the quality of work life has on the productivity of the workers in the healthcare industry.
Research Questions
The research addressed the following research questions:
RQ1: What is the quality of work life of the workers in the healthcare industry?
RQ2: How is the productivity of the workers in the healthcare industry?
RQ3: How does the quality of work life affect the productivity of the workers in health care?
Hypotheses
The following null and alternative hypotheses served as the foundation for the study:
H10: There is not statistically significant relationship between the quality of work life and the productivity of healthcare workers.
H1A: There is a statistically significant relationship between the quality of work life and the productivity of healthcare workers.
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References
Almalki, M., FitzGerald, G. and Clark, M. (2012). Quality of work life among primary health care nurses in the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study. Human Resources for Health. 10:30.
Daubermann D. and Tonete, V. (2012). Quality of work life of nurses in primary health care. Acta Paulista de Enfermagem, 25(2): http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103- 21002012000200019
Hatam, N., Zarifi, M., Lotfi, M., Kavosi, Z. and Tavakoli, A. (2014). The relationship between quality of work life and human resource productivity in knowledge workers. Journal of Health Management & Informatics, 1(3): 59-65.
Moradi, T., Maghaminejad, F. and Azizi-Fini, I. (2014). Quality of working life of nurses and its related factors. Nursing and Midwifery Studies, 3(2): e19450.
Narehan, H., Hairunnisa, M., Norfadzillah, R. and Freziamella, L. (2014). The Effect of Quality of Work Life (QWL) Programs on Quality of Life (QOL) among Employees at Multinational Companies in Malaysia. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences. 112: 24-34.
