Assessment of Relationship between Social Capital and Nursing Performance of Neonatal and Pediatric Wards in Teaching Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Social Capital has drawn the attention of many studies during recent years. Some of these studies considered social capital as one of the influential variables on nurses’ performance. Nurses’ performance as the most pivotal concept in determining performance of hospital units determines the performance of national health system which has been an area of interest for many studies. Nurse’s performance, especially in pediatric section, is more important due to the nature of patients. For this reason, social capital as one of the influential factors and its implications on nurses’ performance was studied. Method: this study uses descriptive approach. 154 nurses from pediatric wards of 3 hospitals located in Tabriz responded to questionnaire as data gathering tool. The inclusion condition was at least 1 year of professional involvement in everyday activities of the ward. Questionnaire included 3 different parts namely: demographic characteristics of respondents, social capital items and performance items. Demographic Data were analyzed by descriptive and correlation statistics using SPSS 20. Results: Results showed that studied nurses gained high scores in network and supportive structures but gained relatively low scores in trust dimension. They also gained high scores in functional variables. Results also showed that in addition to overall impact of social capital on nurses' performance, all other subsidiary constituents of social trust were positively correlated to their performance. Conclusion: The findings showed that having networked and social support structure, participation level and organizational responsibility in nurses have positive impact on their performance. Therefore hospital managers can improve quality of hospital services by increasing level of social capital among nurses.