Correlation between work alienation and silence behavior among nurses

Objective To explore the correlation between nurses' work alienation and silence behavior. Methods 603 registered nurses were recruited from a tertiary hospital in Guangzhou. They were investigated with Alienation Scale and Work Silence Behavior Scale. Results The scores of work alienation and silence behavior were (34.35±6.53) points and (37.66±6.46) points respectively, and both of them were at the medial level. Work alienation was positively related to silence behavior (r=0.603). All dimensions of work alienation were positively related to all dimensions of silence behavior (P < 0.01). The predictors of silence behavior were age, nursing working years, job title, department, frustration, helplessness and meaningless, explained 42.2% of its variance. Conclusions Work alienation has positive effect to silence behavior. The administrators in hospitals should focus on nurse, work alienation and silence behavior, and reduce silence behavior by reducing work alienation. Key words: Nurses; Work alienation; Silence behavior