Do lean practices increase nurses' organizational commitment and job satisfaction in Turkey? – A private hospital model

Abstract

Background: Making the employee feel valued can significantly affect the employee's commitment to the organization. The most important criteria of lean health services are to develop a culture in which employees are empowered to be actively involved in the decision-making process. Objective: This study aims to examine whether lean management practices have an effect on increasing nurses' “organizational commitment” and “job satisfaction”. Method: The research was conducted in a private hospital in 2019-2021 in Turkey. In the study, the "Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction Questionnaire" was applied to staff nurses. Then the hospital management decided to implement “Lean Hospital” practices. In this process, lean training was given to the nurse management, and lean methods and techniques were applied in the field. After approximately 1.5 years, the questionnaires were re-issued to the participants again to compare and contrast results. Results: In the study, the mean score of the nurses from the "Job Satisfaction Questionnaire" before lean was 3.79±0.29, while it was 3.82±0.28 after lean. The average score from the "Organizational Commitment Questionnaire" before implementing the lean practices was 3.74±0.32.  It was 4.18±0.21 after implementing the lean practices. While there was a low level of positive correlation between the nurses' mean scores of organizational commitment and job satisfaction questionnaires before implementing lean practices, it was found that the result was moderately positive after lean practices. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: Ensuring the participation of employees in the decision-making process and listening to their suggestions in lean management were positively associated with “organizational commitment” and “job satisfaction”. However, it should not be forgotten that lean practices are a long-term and continuous methodology.