This study adopted a cross-sectional design and survey
method for collecting data. The study sample came
from two major medical centres in northern Taiwan.
One is located in the central metropolitan area of Taipei,
and the other is located at the border of the
metropolitan area. One had nearly 4000 beds, and the
other had roughly 6000 beds in 2007. Both centres had
positive reputations: these medical centres ranked
among the top five in a survey (Global Views Weekly
2003) of 1089 Taiwanese respondents who were asked
When you have medical needs, which hospital is your
first choice? These medical centres were chosen because
they had a wide range of departments with various
areas of expertise, increasing the generality of the study
findings. Most nurses working in medical centres in
Taiwan are registered nurses, and this study reflected
this population characteristic by only sampling registered
nurses. Moreover, this study excluded part-time
nurses, nurse practitioners, nursing students, and head
nurses, because they are less diverse in nursing accreditation
levels.