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Relationships of organizational social capital with the presence of “gossip and slander,” “quarrels and conflicts,” sick leave, and poor work ability in nursing homes

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to explore the associations of organizational social capital (OSC) with the presence of “gossip and slander,” the presence of “conflicts and quarrels,” sick leave prevalence, and prevalence of poor work ability in frontline working personnel of nursing homes.

Methods

A total of 239 subjects (81 % participation), working in 11 different nursing homes, took part in a cross-sectional questionnaire study. Following end points were considered, they are as follows: prevalence of “gossip and slander,” “conflicts and quarrels,” sick leave, and poor work ability. Associations with OSC were explored at individual level (binomial log-linear regression analysis) and on group level (Kendall’s tau correlation coefficients).

Results

Significant associations were found between OSC and “gossip and slander,” sick leave, and poor work ability, both in the individual- and group-level analyses. The associations showed a higher significance level in the group-level analyses, with the strongest association found between mean OSC of the workplace and the prevalence of poor work ability at the workplace (τ = −0.722; p = 0.002).

Conclusions

This study demonstrated significant associations of OSC with three end points that are relevant within the framework of well-being at work in nursing homes. The results are suggestive that OSC should be treated as a characteristic of the entire workplace, rather than as an individually experienced characteristic. The strikingly strong association between OSC and prevalence of poor work ability is suggestive for an important role of OSC within the context of maintaining work ability.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Securex Occupational Health Service, Brouwerijstraat 1, 9031, Drongen, Belgium

    Philippe Kiss & Marc De Meester

  2. Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Philippe Kiss, Marc De Meester & Lutgart Braeckman

  3. Task-Consult, Gilleleje, Denmark

    Tage S. Kristensen

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  1. Philippe Kiss
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  2. Marc De Meester
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  3. Tage S. Kristensen
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  4. Lutgart Braeckman
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Correspondence to Philippe Kiss.

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Kiss, P., De Meester, M., Kristensen, T.S. et al. Relationships of organizational social capital with the presence of “gossip and slander,” “quarrels and conflicts,” sick leave, and poor work ability in nursing homes. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 87, 929–936 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-014-0937-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-014-0937-6

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