A quasi-experimental study on a quality circle program in a Taiwanese hospital

OBJECTIVE: To explore the impact of quality circles on job satisfaction, absenteeism, and turnover among hospital nurses in Taiwan. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental research design. SETTING: In November 1995, a study was initiated to establish quality circles in a 500-bed community hospital in Taiwan. After the administrative process and a pilot study, three of the experimental units began implementing the quality circle program in January 1997. For the comparison group, three non-quality circle medical-surgical units were selected from another building. STUDY PARTICIPANTS: All registered nurses on the three selected units who met the criteria of having worked full-time on those units for > or = 6 months were included in the study. There were 53 full-time registered nurses (49 female, four male) who met the criteria and 100% participated. There were no significant differences between the quality circle group and the non-quality circle group in terms of sex, age, and number of years of working experience, education or marital status. INTERVENTIONS: After obtaining administrative approval and support, the pilot study began with 3-month quality circle courses and 3-month quality circle process training for the experimental group nurses. Each circle has been meeting for 1 hour each week to identify problems, barriers, and solutions for effective implementation since 1997. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (i) Demographic data questionnaire; (ii) Stamps and Piedmont's Index of Work Satisfaction; (iii) hospital records for absenteeism and turnover data. RESULTS: The data reveal that nurses of the three quality circle units felt more satisfied (P < 0.01) than did nurses from the three non-participating units. In the non-participating group, 36% had considered leaving the units, compared to 10% of nurses from the quality circle group. The turnover rate was significantly higher for the non-participating group (40%) than for the quality circle group (13%). CONCLUSION: This quality circle program in a Taiwanese hospital significantly improved satisfaction, reduced absenteeism, and lowered turnover of nurses. The findings support other studies reported in the literature.