Identification of HRM practices to Improve work engagement of medical staff of Government hospitals

Background: The work burdens on public hospitals of Pakistan have increased enormously in the recent past, due to which healthcare providers experience a higher level of burnout than other human service sectors of white-collar jobs. Government hospitals make different efforts to provide quality care with efficiency to poor patients. Healthcare employees operate in unsafe work environments, having less but overloaded infrastructure at the same time as private sector hospitals. In this scenario, employees of public hospitals are often found to be less engaged, stressed, and less attentive at their workplaces. Purpose: This study will help in some way the management of public hospitals of Punjab to understand those Human Resource Management practices that may boost work engagement of primary care providers, i.e. both Doctors and Nurses and provide evidence that Human Resource activities that are carefully designed may increase work engagement of healthcare staff which may pay back in the form of higher quality care and safety. For this purpose, this study identifies and tests those Human Resource Management practices in the Pakistani context on which Ontario Hospital Canada (OHA), Canadian Research Corporation (CRC), the National Health Service, UK and the Health Sector of the USA have given great emphasis, and which may enhance work engagement of employees. This study also highlights some possible barriers that cause variation in staff engagement. Methodology: This is a descriptive-analytic study that was conducted in 12 Tertiary and Tehsil level public hospitals (6 each, respectively) among on-duty Doctors and Nurses. A sample of 161 doctors and 137 nurses was collected through Stratified Random Sampling (Disproportionate Method) by using the Employees Experience Survey Questionnaire and the Quality Healthcare Workplace Model of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA). Results were obtained by reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and regression. Employees' work engagement was measured through a cumulative percentage of positive responses on each dimension of human resource practices, which OHA and other researchers have stressed. The employees’ Engagement Score was bifurcated into high, medium, and low levels. Findings: The study concludes that by following an employee-centric approach based on the social and economic exchange theories, High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS), if carefully designed by management through effective HRM practices, may enable employees of public hospitals to provide high-quality patient care to the general public. In summary, the findings make clear that engagement culture comes from carefully devised HR practices with positivity, compassion, and respect for healthcare employees. When staff deals with such practices, they can fulfill their intrinsic satisfaction, which is vital to creating high-quality patient care quality.