The social integration of healthcare agency workers in long-term care facilities: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Patient care quality is a key concern for long-term care facilities and is directly related to effective collaboration between healthcare professionals. The use of agency staff in long-term care facilities creates important challenges in terms of coordination and communication within work units.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study is to assess the mediating effect of common in-group identity in the relationship between permanent employees' perceptions regarding the use of agency workers -namely distributive justice, perceptions of threat, perceived similarities with agency workers, and leader inclusiveness toward agency staff- and the permanent employees' adoption of collaborative behaviours.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTINGS

Three long-term care facilities.

PARTICIPANTS

290 regular healthcare employees (nurses and care attendants).

METHODS

Data were obtained through questionnaires filled out by employees. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation analyses.

RESULTS

The results showed the indirect effects of perceived distributive justice, perceived similarity and leader inclusiveness toward agency workers on permanent employees' cooperation behaviours through common group identification. Perceptions of threat were not related to common group identification or collaborative behaviours. The results also showed that common in-group identification is related to cooperation behaviours only for employees without previous experience as agency workers.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that permanent healthcare employees who feel they are fairly compensated relative to agency workers, who consider these workers as similar to them, and who believe their supervisor appreciates agency workers' contributions tend to develop a common in-group identity, which fosters collaborative behaviours. Managers of long-term care facilities who wish to foster collaboration among their blended workforce should thus create an environment conducive of a more inclusive identity, particularly if their employees have no previous experience as agency workers.