Healthcare organizational stability rests on organizational commitment. This
study adds to the literature that demonstrat
es the mediating effects of empowerment on
organizational commitment in a long unders
tudied population of Licensed Practical
Nurses (LPNs) employed full time. Organizational commitment encourages extra role
behaviors, paramount in times of decreasing re
sources such as that
facing all sectors of
national health care. A 45-item
work environment survey was
distributed to all registered
LPNs employed full time in one state (N
= 5486) and 1164 (21%) responded. Data
revealed that empowerment is associated
with LPN organizational commitment and
mediates effects of organizat
ional conflict and trust on commi
tment to the organization.
Further empowerment and organizational climat
e, especially organi
zational conflict and
trust, matter to full-time LPNs. Results
contribute to initial know
ledge about linkages to
organizational commitment among lower edu
cated and less skilled nurses and have
implications for managers in healthcare se
ttings who employ full-time LPNs. LPNs may
be more highly valued by scholars in nursi
ng if LPN-sensitive research shows their
continued value and cost effectiveness
for specific and important organizational
outcomes, especially in light of the gr
owing geriatric population that will require
increasingly chronic and routine care. As
bedside RNs become more highly educated,
they may increasingly disdain employment that
involves the repetiti
ve, low-risk patient
care that LPNs currently provide. There is a
real need to better understand the current
work environment of those employees respons
ible for delivering low-risk repetitive
healthcare to chronically ill and elderly
patients. LPNs are key among those.