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Impact of Motivation on the Psychological Wellbeing of Nurses in Enugu Metropolis

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This study examined the impact of Motivation on the psychological wellbeing among Nurses. The design of the study used is Cohort. The area of the study is Enugu Metropolis. The population of the study is Two hundred and fifty (250) Nurses. The sample and sampling technique used are two hundred and fifty purposively selected. Two instruments were used to collect data. The instruments are Work extrinsic and intrinsic motivations and Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scales that were adopted that indicated responses from the two hundred and fifty (250) Nurses. The instruments were validated by three experts, two from measurements and evaluation and one from psychology education. ANOVA was used to analyze responses from participants. Results show that motivation predicted psychological wellbeing among Nurses. Result indicated that motivation predicted psychological wellbeing with (β= 0.18, t=2.74). This clearly does not agree with the hypothesis that motivation will not significantly predict psychological wellbeing among Nurses. Hence the hypothesis which stated that motivation will not statistically significantly predict psychological wellbeing among Nurses was not confirmed. The study recommends that Nurses should be highly motivated in order to maintain stable psychological wellbeing.
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International Journal of Academic Research in PSYCHOLOGY
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Impact of Motivation on the Psychological Wellbeing of
Nurses in Enugu Metropolis
Chimezie Nwankwo, Chiamaka P. Okeke, O. J. Okeke
To Link this Article: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARP/v5-i1/4756 DOI: 10.6007/IJARP/v5-i1/4756
Received: 06 June 2018, Revised: 19 Aug 2018, Accepted: 16 Sep 2018
Published Online: 28 October 2018
In-Text Citation: (Nwankwo, Okeke, & Okeke, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Nwankwo, C., Okeke, C. P., & Okeke, O. J. (2018). Impact of Motivation on the Psychological
Wellbeing of Nurses in Enugu Metropolis. International Journal of Academic Research in Psychology, 5(1), 1
14.
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Vol. 5 , No. 1, 2018, E-ISSN: 2312-1882 © 2018 HRMARS
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Impact of Motivation on the Psychological Wellbeing
of Nurses in Enugu Metropolis
Chimezie Nwankwo (Ph.D)
Department of Psychology, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki
Chiamaka P. Okeke
Department of Psychology, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki
O. J. Okeke (Ph.D)
Department of Chemistry Education, School of Science Education,
Enugu State College of Education (Technical) Enugu, In Affiliation to Nnamdi Azikiwe University
Akwa
Abstract
This study examined the impact of Motivation on the psychological wellbeing among Nurses. The
design of the study used is Cohort. The area of the study is Enugu Metropolis. The population of the
study is Two hundred and fifty (250) Nurses. The sample and sampling technique used are two
hundred and fifty purposively selected. Two instruments were used to collect data. The instruments
are Work extrinsic and intrinsic motivations and Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scales that
were adopted that indicated responses from the two hundred and fifty (250) Nurses. The instruments
were validated by three experts, two from measurements and evaluation and one from psychology
education. ANOVA was used to analyze responses from participants. Results show that motivation
predicted psychological wellbeing among Nurses. Result indicated that motivation predicted
psychological wellbeing with (β= 0.18, t=2.74). This clearly does not agree with the hypothesis that
motivation will not significantly predict psychological wellbeing among Nurses. Hence the hypothesis
which stated that motivation will not statistically significantly predict psychological wellbeing among
Nurses was not confirmed. The study recommends that Nurses should be highly motivated in order to
maintain stable psychological wellbeing.
Keywords: Motivation, Psychological, Wellbeing, Nurses.
INTRODUTION
The psychological well-being has progressed rapidly since the emergence of the field over five
decades ago. As recent surveys show psychologists and other social scientists have taken huge steps
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in their understanding of the factors influencing psychological/ subjective well-being. A person’s self-
report of their psychological wellbeing are becoming a focus of intense debate in public policy and in
economics, and improving the wellbeing of the population is emerging as a key societal aspiration.
Psychological well-being is the subjective term that means different meanings to different people.
Psychological well-being resides within the experience of the individual (Campbell, Converse, and
Rodgers, 1976). It is a person’s evaluative reaction to his or her life either in terms of life satisfaction
(Cognitive evaluation) or affective balance or the extent to which the level of positive effect
outweighs the level of negative effect in someone’s life (Andrew and Withey, 1976; Campbell et
al.,1976; Diener, 1984).
According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2005) psychological well-being is a
positive state of physical, mental and social well-being. It is not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity. Motivation at work is found to be closely linked with job satisfaction and psychological well-
being. People are motivated to behave in ways that have made them happy in the past and avoid
behaviours which have led to them being sad (Nesse, 1989). Nesse (1989) suggest that from an
evolutionary point of view, it is most useful for a person to conserve energy when the outcome is
unlikely to be a good one but to use all energy stores when the effort will result in good
consequences.
Motivation concerns what moves people to act, think, and develop. The central focus of motivation
research is therefore on the conditions and processes that facilitate persistence, performance,
healthy development, and vitality in human endeavors. Although, clearly, motivational processes
can be studied in terms of underlying mechanisms in people’s brains and physiology, the vast amount
of variance in human motivation is not a function of the more proximal socio-cultural conditions in
which actors find them. These social conditions and processes influence not only what people do but
also how they feel while acting and as a consequence of acting. Most theories of human motivation
have therefore focused on the effects of social environments, including the rewards, incentives, and
relationship inherent in them, to better understand what activates and sustains effective functioning,
not only because that is where variation is mostly readily observed but also because it is the most
practical focus for interventions. In doing so, most theories have treated motivation as a unitary
concept that varies primary in amount (Bandura, 1996; Baumeister and Vohs, 2007). They have
assumed that more motivation, however catalyzed, will yield greater achievement and more
successful functioning. Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci and Ryan, 2000; Ryan and Deci, 2000),
in contrast, has maintained that there are different types of motivation, specifically, autonomous,
controlled motivation and that this type of motivation is generally more important than the amount
in predicting life’s important outcomes.
Work motivation comprises of two important types of motivators, which could be classified as
intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivators include achievement, recognition, challenging work,
increased responsibility, advancement and enjoyment while intrinsic motivation is itself the outcome,
the result of a work situation that people enjoy because they are in charge, because they have the
opportunity to acquire new skills and abilities to match a different challenge, or because they are
part of a successful team. Whereas, extrinsic motivators include pay; fringe benefit, promotion,
housing allowance, medical allowance, and status are the factors of extrinsic to the job. In addition
to concrete rewards, content of the job itself, recognition and feedback from coworkers, supervisor
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and customers and accomplishing goals that are challenging and meaningful are more effective
extrinsic motivators.
To compete in today’s world, more than ever before, government must not only hire the best
available nurses but also find ways to enable them to be productive and effective. The most
productive and effective nurses are highly motivated and presumably in good health. Such nurses
work energetically, produce high-quality outcomes, and perform optimally. Unfortunately, health
problems in the workplace are on the rise (Vezina, Bourbonnals, Marchand and Arcand, 2008),
resulting in higher cost, not only for organization like productivity losses, high turnover, and
absenteeism rates, but also for individuals (for example psychological stress and lower qualities of
life).
Statement of Problem
The performance of nurses has come under serious criticism. They have been accused of high level
of inefficiency in the discharge of their duties by the general public. Poor infrastructure, inadequate
logistics, laxity in the upholding of ethical conducts, low salaries and inadequate reward system are
hallmarks of the Health sector in Nigeria. Inadequate motivation among the health workers has led
to industrial actions most of the time resulting in the low level of public confidence and respect in
the institution and had further negative multiplier effects of poor performance, low morale and lack
of discipline in the service. The public hospital in Nigeria have a greater percentage of death rate and
unreported malpractice incident because the nurses are being neglected most patients do not have
the means to pursue cases of negligence and error by practitioners in the course of their treatment.
Even though management has instituted a number of motivational packages for staff including annual
rewards to boost staff performance, anecdotal evidence has revealed conflicting messages with
regard to its effect. So the question is, how effective are these motivation packages to the
psychological wellbeing of nurses in Enugu Metropolis? The study therefore looks at the effects of
motivation on the psychological wellbeing of nurses in Enugu Metropolis.
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study is to know whether motivation will determine psychological wellbeing
among Nurses in Enugu Metropolis.
Research Question
To what extent does motivation influence the psychological wellbeing among nurses in Enugu
Metropolis?
Hypothesis
The hypothesis postulated and tested in the course of this study is thus:
H0: Motivation has no significant impact on the psychological wellbeing of nurses in Enugu Metropolis
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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERTURE
MOTIVATION
Motivation can be defined as a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way and a
desire or willingness to do something. It can be considered a driving force; a psychological drive
that compels or reinforces an action toward a desired goal. Motivation elicits, controls, and sustains
certain goal directed behaviors. Motivation has been considered using approaches considered
to be physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and social. Motivation is conceptually related to, but
distinct from, emotion, and may be rooted a basic response to optimize well-being, minimize physical
pain and maximize pleasure, or originate from specific physical needs such as eating, sleeping or
resting. Motivation can be divided into two types: internal, or intrinsic motivation, and external,
or extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task
itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. Intrinsic
motivation is based on taking pleasure in an activity rather than working towards an external reward.
Employees who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to engage in the task willingly as well
as work to improve their skills, which will increase their capabilities. Employees are likely to be
intrinsically motivated if they attribute their educational results to factors under their own
control, also known as autonomy,believe they have the skill that will allow them to be effective
agents in reaching desired goals (i.e. the results are not determined by luck).
Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain an outcome, which
then contradicts intrinsic motivation. It is widely believed that motivation performs two functions.
The first is often referred to as the energetic activation component of the motivation construct. The
second is directed at a specific behavior and makes reference to the orientation directional
component. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic
motivations are rewards like money and grades, and threat of punishment. Competition is in general
extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others, not simply to enjoy the intrinsic
rewards of the activity. A crowd cheering on the individual and trophies are also extrinsic incentives.
Psychological Wellbeing
Psychological wellbeing: the operational definition of psychological wellbeing in the study appears as
being all right and not all right. Researchers identify levels of psychological wellbeing by summing up
the scores of respondent given to the 14 items in the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale.
Shortly, those with higher score reveals that are psychologically fine more that others and vice versa.
Psychological well-being is the subjective term that means different meanings to different people.
Psychological well-being resides within the experience of the individual (Campbell, Converse, and
Rodgers, 1976). It is person’s evaluate reaction to his or her life either in terms of life satisfaction
(Cognitive evaluation) or affective balance or the extent to which the level of positive affect
outweighs the level of negative effect in someone’s life (Andrew and Withey, 1976; Campbell et
al.,1976; Diener, 1984). Along with contextual influences psychological capital shapes the perception
of wellbeing.
Psychological well-being is considered as a balance between positive effect and negative effect.
Positive well-being is an appraisal of the status of one’s functioning and outcome along several
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distinct but interrelated dimension including global, mental and physical healthfulness. According to
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2005) psychological well-being is a positive state of
physical, mental and social well-being. It is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Motivation
at work is found to be closely linked with job satisfaction and psychological well-being. Work
motivation is identified as an energizing, directing and sustaining force (Steers Porter, 1983).
Similarly, it is believed that individuals has certain self-centered needs that governs their behaviors
and that the organization can, by satisfying these needs, motivate the individual to contribute
towards the achievement of organizational goals.
Theoretical Review
Theories of motivation
Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Decci & Ryan, 2002)
This is a theory of motivation. It is concerned with supporting our natural or intrinsic tendencies to
behave in effective and healthy ways. It is also concerned with the motivation behind choices people
make without external influence and interference. The theory was initially developed by (Decci &
Ryan, 2002). SDT focuses on the degree to which an individual’s behavior is self-motivated and self-
determined. It is centered on the on the belief that human nature shows persistent positive features,
that it repeatedly shows effort, agency and commitment in their lives. This theory states that people
have three basic psychological needs to motivate the self to initiate behavior and specify nutriment
that are essential for psychological health and well-being of an individual. These needs are said to be
universal, inmate and psychological and they include: competence, relatedness and autonomy.
1. Competence: means the desire to control and master the environment and outcome. We
want to know how things will turn
2, Relatedness: deals with the desire to "interact with, be connected to, and experience caring
for other people". Our actions and daily activities involve other people and through this, we
seek the feeling of belongingness.
3. Autonomy: concerns with the urge, to be causal agents and to act in harmony with
our integrated self. Deci and Ryan, (2000) stated that to be autonomous does not mean to be
independent. It means having a sense of free will when doing something or acting out of our own
interests and values.
Deci and Ryan (2000) claim that there are three essential elements of the theory: Humans are
inherently proactive with their potential and mastering their inner force,; such
as drives and emotions,
1. Humans have an inherent tendency toward growth development and integrated
functioning.
2. Optimal development and actions are inherent in humans but they don't happen
automatically.
To actualize their inherent potential they need nurturing from the social environment. If this happens
there are positive consequences (e.g. wellbeing and growth) but if not, there are negative
consequences. So SDT emphasizes humans' growth toward positive motivation; however, this is
thwarted if their basic needs are not fulfilled.
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This theory suggests that nurses will be motivated by their basic needs and it helps them behave in
effective ways. Motivation is divided into two: Intrinsic motivation Ryan & Deci (2000) define
intrinsic motivation as "doing of an activity for its inherent satisfactions rather than for some
separable consequences"
Simply put, an individual is intrinsically motivated to do something when he/she likes what they
are doing. For instance, artists love painting; they paint for the sake of the activity itself, for the
positive experience of performing not for the potential secondary gains that may arise from doing
what they love.
Two-Factor Theory (Hertzberg, 1959)
The Two-Factor Theory of motivation otherwise known as dual-factor theory or motivation-
hygiene theory was developed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg in 1959. This theory states that
there are certain factors in the work place that cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors
cause dissatisfaction. Herzberg proposed a two-factor model of motivation, based on the notion
that the presence of one set of job characteristics or incentives leads to worker satisfaction at work,
while another separate set of job characteristics leads to dissatisfaction at work. Thus satisfaction
and dissatisfaction are not on a continuum with one increasing as the other diminishes, but are
independent phenomena. This theory suggests that to improve job attitudes and productivity,
administrators must recognize and attend both sets of characteristics and not assume that an increase
in satisfaction leads to decrease in dissatisfaction. Analyzing the responses of 203 accountants and
engineers;; who, were asked about their positive and negative feelings about their work, Herzberg
found 2 factors that influence employee motivation and satisfaction.
1. Motivator factors: These are factors that lead to satisfaction and motivate employees to work
harder. Examples might include enjoying your work, feeling recognized and career progression.
2. Hygiene factors: These are factors that do not give positive satisfaction or higher
motivation, through dissatisfaction results from their absence. The term hygiene is used in the
sense that these are maintenance factors. These are extrinsic to the work itself, and it can lead
to dissatisfaction and a lack of motivation if they are absent. Examples include salary, company
policies, benefits, relationships with managers and co-workers. These motivator factors
increased nurse's satisfaction and motivation, the absence of these factors didn't
necessarily cause dissatisfaction. Likewise, the presence of hygiene factors didn't appear to
increase satisfaction and motivation but their absence caused an increase in dissatisfaction.
This theory states that while motivator and hygiene factors both influenced motivation. They
appeared to work completely independently of each other and absence of both could cause
dissatisfaction in work.
Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 1943)
The Hierarchy of Needs theory was coined by psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943. The crux
of the theory is that individuals' most basic needs must be met before they become motivated to
achieve higher level needs.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the largest, most
fundamental needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization and self-transcendence at the top.
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The hierarchy is made up of 5 levels, but was later expanded and transcendence needs was added,
(Maslow, 1970). The needs are as follows: physiological needs, safety needs, social belonging,
esteem, self-actualization and self-transcendence.
1. Physiological needs: These needs must be met in order for a person to survive if these human
requirements are not met the human body cannot function properly and will ultimately fail.
Physiological- needs are thought to be the most important; they should be met first. They
include food, water, sleep, clothing and shelter.
2. Safety needs: once a person's physiological needs are relatively satisfied, their safety needs
take precedence and dominate their behavior. This includes personal and financial security and
health and wellbeing. Which means that the person's surroundings are not threatening to them
or their family? If the environment seems to be safe, then it means that there is a since of
predictability or stability in the surroundings. Security could also include financial security so that
there is no financial Uncertainty in the future. This could be achieved by creating a retirement
package, securing job position, and insurance.
3. Social belonging: After physiological needs are fulfilled, the third level of human needs is
interpersonal and involves feelings of belongingness. The need for friendships, intimacy and
family. In the workplace, this means to feel as though they are a part of the group and included in
the work. People have the urge to be accepted by others, especially the people they are around
the most.
4. Esteem: The need to feel confident and be respected by others. The person must have a high
image of them self and encompass self-respect. This level has two components: feelings of
self-worth, and the need for respect from others. Low self-esteem or inferiority may
result from imbalances during this level in the hierarchy. People with low self-esteem often need
respect from others; they may feel the need to seek fame or glory. However, fame or glory will
not help the person to build their self-esteem until they accept who they are internally.
Psychological imbalances such as depression may hinder the person from obtaining a higher
level of self-esteem or self-respect.
5. Self-actualization: this level of need refers to what a person's full potential is and the realization
of that potential. The desire to achieve everything you possibly can and become the most
that you can be. Someone being all they can be and they have met each of the previous stages.
In this particular level, the person's talents are being completely utilized. Maslow believes that
no one is ever completely self-actualized. People are always striving to be better and use
their talents in new ways. This is important to motivation because a person must be;
motivated to fulfill their needs and strive for the next level until they reach self-actualization.
6. Self-transcendence: In his later years, Maslow explored a further dimension of needs, while
criticizing his own vision on self-actualization. The self only finds it actualization in giving itself to
some higher goal outside oneself, in altruism and spirituality, which is essentially the desire to
reach infinite, "Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of
human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to
significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos".
According to the hierarchy of needs, you must be in good health, safe and secure with meaningful
relationships and confidence before you are able to be the most that you can be. These needs
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motivate humans to care for themselves and live a rich life.This theory explains that if nurses do not
achieve basic needs and find out what motivate them in different stages so that they can be motivated
to achieve higher level needs or achieve self-actualization and be rewarded accordingly.
Expectancy Theory (Vroom, 1964)
This theory was proposed by Vroom H. V. in 1964 proposes that people will choose how to behave
depending on the outcomes they expect as a result of their behavior. In other words, we decide what
to do base on what we expect the outcome to be. At work, it might be that we work longer hours
because we expect a pay rise. This theory emphasizes the needs for organizations to relate rewards
directly to performance and to ensure that the rewards provided are those rewards deserved and
wanted by the recipients.
However, Expectancy Theory also suggests that the process by which we decide our behaviors is also
influenced by how likely we perceive those rewards to be. In this instance, workers may be more
likely to work harder if they had been promised a pay rise (and thus perceived that outcome as very
likely) than if they had only assumed they might get one (and perceived the outcome as possible but not
likely)
Like many theories of motivation, the nature of the goal is often ignored. Motivation theory has the
tendency to see what is going on within the actor, rather than focusing on the goal itself. In this case, the
goal seeker is one who wants to show competence and, therefore, will choose those goals that seem
relatively safe, with a high degree of expectancy that they can be done. There are three variables intrinsic
to expectancy. First, something is in it for the actor when the goal is finished. There is a "perceived
outcome" in the goal itself, usually focused around showing competence and a feeling of
accomplishment. Second, the job itself can be done with a minimum of frustrations. This remains one of
the most common and important basic theories of motivation. Finally, one's ego will find some rest in the
task. In other words, the task at hand will manifest one's capabilities and show everyone how competent
he is.
Expectancy theory is based on three elements:
1. Expectancy: the belief that your effort will result in your desired goal. This is based on your
past experience, your self-confidence and how difficult you think the goal is to achieve.
2. Instrumentality: the belief that you will receive a reward if you meet performance
expectations.
3. Valence: the value you place on the reward.
Therefore, according to Expectancy Theory, nurses are most motivated if they believe that they
will receive a desired reward if they hit an achievable target. They are least motivated if they don't
want the reward or they don't believe that their efforts will result in the reward.
Empirical Review
Motivation and Psychological Wellbeing
Gokce, (2014) studied the relationships between basic psychological needs, motivational
regulations, self-esteem, subjective vitality, and social physique anxiety in physical education. One
thousand and eighty two high school students aged between 14 and 19 [mean (M) = 15.89 ± 0.95
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years] from six public high schools participated to the study. Students' basic psychological
needs: motivational regulations, subjective vitality and self-esteem served as positive indicators, while
social physique anxiety was a negative indicator of psychological well-being. Structural equation modeling
results revealed that students' motivational regulation's mediated the relationship between basic
psychological needs and psychological well-being. Intrinsic motivation negatively predicted social
physique anxiety and positively predicted subjective vitality. A motivation positively predicted social
physique anxiety and negatively predicted subjective vitality. Identified regulation and external
regulation positively predicted subjective vitality. Results supported the tenets of Self Determination
Theory (SDT) and suggested that satisfying adolescents' basic psychological needs in physical education
will promote their psychological well-being.
Persefoni, Nick & Dimitris (2010) conducted a study to investigate how medical and nursing staff of
the Nicosia General Hospital is affected by specific motivation factors, and the association between job
satisfaction and motivation. Furthermore, to determine the motivational drive of socio-demographic and
job related factors in terms of improving work performance. He used instruments developed for
measuring motivation based on Maslow's and Herzberg's theories was used in the present study. It
consists of 19 items which are grouped under four distinct motivational factors. The job attributes factor
encompasses 7 items: authority, goals, creativity opportunities, clear duties, job control, skill exploitation
and decision-making. The remuneration factor encompasses 4 items: salary, environment,
retirement/pension and absenteeism. The co-workers factor encompasses 5 items: teamwork, job
pride, appreciation, I supervisor and fairness. The achievements factor encompasses 3 items: job
meaningfulness, earned respect and interpersonal relationships. Two categories of health care
professionals, medical doctors and dentists (N = 67) and nurses (N = 219) participated and motivation
and job satisfaction was compared across socio-demographic and occupational variables. The survey
revealed that achievements were ranked first among the four motivators, followed by
remuneration, co-workers and job attributes. The factor remuneration revealed statistically significant
differences according to gender, and hospital sector, with female doctors and nurses and accident and
emergency (A+E) outpatient doctors reporting greater mean scores (p < 0,005), The medical staff
showed statistically significantly lower job satisfaction compared to the nursing staff, Surgical sector
nurses and >55 years of age reported higher job satisfaction when compared to the other groups.
The results are in agreement with the literature which focuses attention to management approaches
employing' both monetary and non-monetary incentives to motivate health care professionals Health
care professionals tend to be motivated more by intrinsic factors, implying that this should be a target for
effective employee motivation, Strategies based on the survey's results to enhance employee motivation
are suggested.
METHODOLOGY
Participants
Participants in this study were 250 nurses, comprising 42 males and 208 females. Purposive
sampling techniques (also known as judgment, selective or subjective sampling) was used to draw
participants from five health institutions in Enugu Metropolis in Enugu State. The participants were
nurses of Federal Neuropsychiatric hospital, New Haven, Uwani Cottage Health center Uwani, Poly Sub-
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District hospital Asata, Federal Orthopedic hospital, and Enugu State University Teaching Hospital,
Parklane. Their age ranges from 20-60 years with a mean age of 46.33.
Numbers
59
29
35
62
61
Instruments
Two instruments were used in this study;
The Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, developed and validated by Tennant, Hiller. Fishwick,
Platt, Joseph, Welch, Parkinson, Seeker, Stewart-Brown (2007), it was used to access students with the
age of 16years and above in the UK measuring aspects of mental health involving surveys in both student
and general population samples, and focus groups. The scale has 4 items is scored by summing the
response to each item answered on a 1 to 5 likert scale with the response as- None of the time, Rarely,
Some of the time, Often and All of the time. The minimum scale score is 14 and the maximum is 70. The
scale has full scale reliability of .83 obtained using Cronbach' s alpha coefficient of .&9. 1 gave the
questionnaires to six lecturers who face validated the questionnaires and rated the cronbach alpha high.
The Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS) is an 18-item scale designed to
measure work motivation. It was developed and validated by Tremblay, Blanchard, Taylor & Pelletier
(2009). WEIMS was used to examine the influence of work self-determined as opposed to non-self-
determined motivation. A score for W-SDM (Work-Self Determined Motivation) can be generated by
summing the means of each of the three self-determined subscales (i.e., Intrinsic Motivation,
Integrated Regulation, and Identified Regulation), which some of the items are; Because I derive
much pleasure from learning new things, Because it is part of the way in which I have chosen to live my
life, Because this is the type of work I chose to do to attain s. certain lifestyle.
Similarly, a score for W-NSDM (Work-Non Self-determination Motivation) can be obtained by summing
the means of the three non-self-determined subscales (i.e., Introjected Regulation, External Regulation,
and A motivation), which some of the items include: I don't know why, we are provided with unrealistic
working conditions, For the income it provides me, Because I want to be a "winner" in life. Internal
consistency values of .87 and, 72 were obtained for work self-determined and non-self-determined
motivation, respectively. WEIMS would respectively load on six separate latent constructs (i.e., three
items per factor). I gave the questionnaires to six lecturers who face validated the questionnaires and
rated the cronbach alpha high.
Procedures
The questionnaires were administered to 250 nurses from five hospitals in Enugu metropolis; the
questionnaires were administered to different hospitals on different days. The researcher sought
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Vol. 5 , No. 1, 2018, E-ISSN: 2312-1882 © 2018 HRMARS
12
permission from the head of nursing services in the different health institution to administer the
questionnaires. The researcher rendered lots of thanks to the participants. Design/Statistics
The study employed a cross-sectional design. The statistics used in this is one way Analysis of
Variance (ANOVA).
Out of the 250 pies 245 was collected representing a ratio of 98%, 10 copies were discarded due to
improper filling leaving a total number of 235 that were used for analysis on this study, 195
females and 45 males.
Summary of Main Finding
Table 1: Means, standard deviations, and correlations for age, and motivation on
psychological wellbeing ,
_____________________________________________________________________________
S/N Variable M SD Motivation Psy-
_______________________________________________________________
1 Motivation
63.45
.09
2 Psy-well being
45.84
-.02
.18**
Note. N = 451, * =p< ,05(two-tailed), ** ~p < .01 (two-tailed),).
Result of correlation table show that psychological wellbeing was positively significantly related to
motivation (r = .18, p < .01); but negatively non-significantly related to age (r = -.03, p> .05) and
negatively non-significantly related to motivation (r = -.09, p> .05).
Table 2: Showing the prediction of 'psychological well being' from control variable-age, and motivation
R R2 R2A B Beta(p) T
Model 1
Age
.031 ,001 .001 -.04 -.03 -.48
Model2
Motivation
.181** .033** .031** .11 .18 2.74**
Table 2 result indicated that the demographic (age) did not significantly predict psychological
wellbeing of nurses (P - -.03, t - -.48) But motivation entered in model three of the equation was a
significant positive predictor of psychological wellbeing of nurses ((3 = .18, t = 2.74, p< 01). It
however accounted for 31% variance in the explanation of psychological wellbeing of nurses (R2A
= .031, p< .01). Thus increase in motivation increases psychological wellbeing of nurses.
Discussion
The result of the study revealed that motivation statistically significantly predicted Nurses
psychological wellbeing. This simply means that psychological wellbeing is a complex combination of a
person's physical, mental, emotional and social health. The impact of the psychological wellbeing is very
International Journal of Academic Research in PSYCHOLOGY
Vol. 5 , No. 1, 2018, E-ISSN: 2312-1882 © 2018 HRMARS
13
high on the motivational level of the nurses because of better work relationships, work life balance, job
security and salary and other benefits which keep the employee satisfied and contented and thus it
return helps the employee to perform better, more productivity, less absenteeism, low turnover,
emotional stable, physical healthy, mentally at peace and also establish better understanding with
others. So the more the nurses are psychological balance, there would be more contribution to the
organization. Emotional demands from nursing professionals can act as challenges which promote
motivation and psychological wellbeing. The above result is in line with earlier studies which suggest that
higher the motivation to work, lesser will be the overall psychological wellbeing, as recognition in work
place is found to be effective in determining one's psychological well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
Conclusion
Based on the finding of the study the researcher hereby concludes that there is significant impact of
motivation on the psychological wellbeing of nurses n Enugu Metropolis. The Psychological wellbeing
of the Nurses has significant impact on the motivation level and it facilitates in achieving the business
objectives of the health sector. This implies that the motivation of nurses is a gate way to Nurses
psychological wellbeing. The result of the present study confirms that previous research shows that
motivational regulations mediated the relationship between basic psychological needs and
psychological well-being.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings of this study, the following are the recommendations:
1. Other studies should be done on the motivation and gender as predictors of psychological
wellbeing among Nurses using a larger sample, and on other factors that can have influence on
psychological wellbeing should be examined, such as emotions, healthy foods, etc.
2. In future research, open-ended questions or interviews could be supplemented in order to
create a richer qualitative piece to the research and better understand what motivates nurses
at a particular time
3.
Government should highly motivate the Nurses by Reduce the nurse labor expense
without
sacrificing quality of care, better work relationships, work life balance, job security and salary
and other benefits which keep the Nurses satisfied and contented and thus in return helps the
Nurses to perform better, more productivity, less absenteeism, low turnover, emotional
stable, physical healthy, mentally at peace and also establish better understanding with others.
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