Structural empowerment of nurses in the hospital setting

OBJECTIVE: to measure the level of structural empowerment of nurses working in a university hospital. METHOD: a descriptive, analytical, and cross-sectional study, carried out with 237 nurses, who developed care and management activities. Data collection took place through a self-administered questionnaire with questions on the personal and professional characterization and the Work Effectiveness Conditions Questionnaire II. Data analysis used descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: it was identified that nurses have a moderate level of structural empowerment (18.06±SD 0.9). The greatest value was obtained in the Opportunity dimension (4.08±SD 0.8), followed by the Resources (3.17±SD 0.8) and Informal power (3,04±SD 0.9) dimensions; while the scores of Support (2.67±SD 1.0), Formal power (2.59±SD 0.9), and Information (2.51±SD 0.9) were lower. CONCLUSION: the level of structural empowerment of the nurses was moderate, which means partial access to opportunities, resources, support, and information of the institution.