| Research backgroundNurses are an important component of the health system.Strengthening the development of nursing care is of great significance to the comprehensive construction of Healthy China and better response to public health emergencies,which has long been highly valued by the Party Central Committee and the Government.With the deepening of the health system reform,the management of tertiary hospitals has shown a flattening trend,and the promotion channels of nursing personnel are more limited.Only a few people can be promoted to nursing management positions or obtain senior professional titles.Meanwhile,nursing personnel have heavy tasks and high work pressure,and long-term "three shifts" leads to biological clock disorders,seriously affecting their physical and mental health.These lead to nursing personnel to an early stagnant stage of career development,namely,a career plateau period,which seriously affects the efficiency and quality of nursing care.Research objectiveTo understand the current situation of nurses’ occupational plateau at grade A tertiary hospitals in Ji’nan City,explore the impact of different demographic variables and factors such as job involvement,organizational support,and family support on occupational plateau,and propose corresponding solutions from the perspectives of individuals,organizations,and families to reduce the level of nurses’ occupational plateau.At the practical level,it aims to provide policy recommendations to help nurses step out of the occupational plateau,promote the construction of high-quality nursing professionals,and improve nursing quality.Research methodThis study was based on a cross-sectional survey conducted using online data collection questionnaire in October 2022.In order to ensure sampling representativeness,nurses from different departments of eight different types of(comprehensive and specialized)grade A tertiary hospitals in Ji’nan city were selected as study subjects.The questionnaire included sociodemographic characteristics,occupational plateau measurement questionnaire,work engagement scale,organizational support scale,and family support scale.SPSS 27.0 software was used for data analyses,including descriptive statistical analyses,independent sample t-test,one-way ANOVA,Pearson correlation analyses,and multivariable linear stepwise regression analyses.Research resultsA total of 914 nurses were investigated in this study,and 839 were ultimately included in the analyses.Among them,women accounted for 97.3%;nurses with undergraduate degree accounted for 92.7%;71.6%were nurse-in-charge or above;the vast majority of nurses did not possess managerial position;regular night shift nurses accounted for 65.4%;more than half of the nurses were relatively satisfied with their income;two thirds of nurses were relatively satisfied with their lives.Among the respondents,517(61.62%)were in a state of latent plateau,and 147(17.52%)were in a state of occupational plateau,accounting for a total of 79.14%.The overall score of nurse occupational plateau was(3.13±0.99),and the scores of each dimension of plateau from high to low were:hierarchical plateau(3.69 ± 1.30),centralized plateau(3.12±1.05),and content plateau(2.75 ± 0.94).The results of univariate analyses showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the overall and multidimensional scores of occupational plateau in terms of gender,child status,and regular or non-regular night shift.There were statistically significant differences in the overall scores of occupational plateau in terms of life satisfaction,job title,and income satisfaction.The statistical differences of plateau scores in various dimensions in different demographic variable groups were different.The results of correlation analyses showed that organizational support,work engagement,and family support were significantly negatively correlated with the overall,hierarchical,content,and centralized occupational plateau.The results of multivariable linear regression showed that the overall factors affecting the occupational plateau of nurses at grade A tertiary hospitals included:organizational support,job involvement,length of nursing experience,position,and satisfaction with income;Factors affecting hierarchical plateau included organizational support,age,job involvement,satisfaction with income,length of nursing experience,position,and title.Factors influencing content plateau included organizational support,job involvement,professional title,and family support.Factors that affected centralized plateau included organizational support,job involvement,length of nursing experience,and position.Research conclusion and suggestionsThe overall occupational plateau of nurses at grade A tertiary hospitals in Ji’nan city was at a medium level.Among the three dimensions of occupational plateau,the hierarchical plateau scored the highest,the centralized plateau scored the second,and the content plateau scored the lowest,indicating that nurses’ perception of occupational plateau was more caused by difficulties in job promotion.In this study,there were statistically significant differences in the general demographic characteristics of nurses’ occupational plateau at grade A tertiary hospitals in Ji’nan city.There was a statistically significant negative correlation between organizational support,work engagement,family support,and occupational plateau.Among them,organizational support and work engagement negatively predicted the overall occupational plateau and various dimensions of plateau,and they were the two most important factors influencing occupational plateau.Based on the current situation and influencing factors of nurses’ occupational plateau at grade A tertiary hospitals in Ji’nan city,this study proposed to adopt coping strategies from three the aspects of individuals,organizations,and families to reduce the level of nurses’occupational plateau. |
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