Power structures
Pittens examines which structures in hospitals influence nurses' power position. The power position of nurses is examined using qualitative methods, such as ethnographic diary keeping, semi-structured interviews, partial participant observations and focus groups.
Lack of say
Although nurses are the largest group of health professionals and occupy a crucial role in healthcare, they rate their decision-making power as inadequate (5/10). This is reported by recent research among 2653 nurses in the Netherlands. Nurses experience lack of say in policy-making, both on a micro scale (patient policy) and on a meso scale (hospital policy). The lack of say or power became clearly evident during COVID. For example, by the fact that nurses were not represented in the outbreak management team (OMT), while they formed the backbone of the COVID response.
Fewer burnouts
The outcomes will be co-analysed together with involved nurses. In addition, they will also participate in creating policy proposals to improve the power position of nurses. This will allow the findings of the study to be directly implemented in practice. By improving nurses' power position, Pittens aims to contribute to better patient care, better collaboration with doctors and higher job satisfaction. It is expected that this could also reduce the high dropout rate due to burnout among nurses. This is currently a major problem due to a shortage of nurses.
Collaboration
The project will be carried out in collaboration with three Dutch hospitals. Athena Institute researcher Dirk Essink and Martijn Vos are closely involved in the design and implementation of the project. The research team is also working with researchers Cees Hamelink, Fedde Scheele and Anne Eskes.