The issue of nurse retention due to stressful working conditions in several Western countries, including Canada, has been exacerbated in recent years by population aging, mass retirements, and the COVID-19 crisis. To address these challenges, healthcare organizations have drawn inspiration from service optimization models adopted by industry (Lean Healthcare) and staffing ratio projects. However, there is a lack of research exploring the working conditions of healthcare staff under these different systems. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and the job demands-resource model, we tested, using structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis, the effects of the workload intensification on job well-being and staff retention. We compared a sample of 145 nurses working under the Lean system with another sample of 155 nurses working under the ratio system. The results support our hypotheses and highlight that working conditions appear to be more challenging under the Lean system than under the ratio system.
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Mansour et al. (2024) studied this question.
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