A study of factors associated with the turnover of social workers in hospital settings a naturalistic inquiry

摘要

This inquiry investigated the phenomenon of 'staying' as a feature of theturnover, recruitment and retention of social workers in hospital settings. Inthe absence of specific literature on the subject, the study made a significantand original contribution to knowledge about social work staff turnover,including the meaning attached to work, the relationship of social workers tothe hospital organisation, and to job satisfaction.Using qualitative methodology, data were collected from multiple sourcesincluding in-depth interviews at two large Sydney Teaching Hospitals, aperiod of engagement in each Social Work Department, a comprehensivereview of primary data from archival records of the Directors of Social WorkServices in Teaching Hospitals (NSW) between 1981-1999, and secondarysource materials of federal and state health policy documents.Two core categories emerged from the study which were social workers'tolerance' of the hospital environment and their qualities of 'selfactualisation'.Of central importance to the inquiry was the discovery ofgrounded theory which explained the relationship of these categories to thephenomenon of 'staying'. The intersection of 'tolerance' and 'self-actualisation' qualified 'staying' as either a positive or negative experiencefor the social worker and the hospital. This theory was presented as anoriginal model which with further refinement, could be used as a predictivetool in studies of turnover of social workers in hospital settings.The findings challenged existing theories that staff retention was preferableto staff turnover in hospital organisations and identified qualities in hospitalsocial workers which would ensure the continuing relevance of social workto the changing hospital environment. The model has implications forhospitals, Social Work Departments and for social work education in thepreparation and training of social workers to join the hospital workforce.Specific activities that supported the 'self-actualisation' of social workers,and aspects of 'tolerance' were identified which worked for the benefit ofboth social workers and hospitals.