Non-financial motivation in the emergency room

Abstract: The lack of nurses and the increasing turnover rate have been the main subjects when looking at the news about the health care sector. The constant lack of nurses can cause a lack of motivation and the nurses are leaving the workplaces, as the stress level rises. Nurses have also been discovered to have an impact on the patient satisfaction, which is why it is important to keep the nurses satisfied in their work. To understand what motivates the nurses and what could be done in order to make the situation better, more research is needed.  Non-financial motivation has been seen as a preferred way of motivating nurses in the hospital environment, which is why this study has a focus on it. Earlier studies have mainly focused on the nurse viewpoint of motivation and to further develop the understanding on the area, the viewpoint of managers is needed to be taken into consideration, to understand the issue more in-depth. To research the subject more, a study was conducted focusing on the emergency room at the University Hospital of Umeå and the nurses and managers working there.  The aim of this study is to understand how the views and preferences regarding non-financial motivation meet between the nurses and managers in the emergency room at the University Hospital of Umeå and which factors are the most preferred. Further, it is of interest to understand how this meeting of thoughts affects the everyday work and the motivation of the nurses. The following research questions was formed to answer the question:  How do nurses and their managers in the emergency room assess non-financial motivation factors?  The study has been conducted using qualitative methods and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Additional data was gathered through e-mail interviews, as well as over telephone, and a reflective interviewee from another hospital was interviewed to gain more insight on the subject from another viewpoint.  The results from the study highlight the common importance for effective and emotionally intelligent leaders, who listen and have time for the subordinates. Further, work colleagues and the possibility for competence development were seen as commonly important factors to affect to the non-financial motivation of the nurses.  Practical implications from the study provide new data concerning the non-financial preferences and how the viewpoints meet and differ between nurses and managers who work in different roles in the hospital. Furthermore, this study could be of use to help to understand what could be done to better in order to motivate the nurses. Although, as the study is focusing on a specific department, it is important to acknowledge the impact and possible differences between the personnel chemistry and recent position changes.