Motives, barriers, and facilitators of job crafting among nurses in Dutch hospitals

Abstract

Following labour shortages and the changing nursing profession in which job crafting can be utilized, this study aims to gain insight into nurses’ motives to engage in job crafting and perceived facilitators and barriers in this by answering the main question: Why do nurses engage in job crafting and what are some of the perceived barriers and facilitators to engage in job crafting? To this end, a qualitative case study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with 12 nurses from different departments in a Dutch hospital. This study found that job crafting motives include challenge, ambitions/intrinsic motivation, power purposes, increasing patient well-being, and keeping knowledge and skills up to date. Perceived job crafting facilitators and barriers included proactive personality, (lack of) support from management and colleagues, open learning climate, job autonomy, self-efficacy, networking, insufficient use of capacities, workload, inadequate staffing, insufficient time due to a demanding home situation and few contract hours, financial constraints, limited experience, and having difficulty to cope with changes and assimilating new knowledge. This study gives hospitals insight into motives, barriers, and facilitators of job crafting among Dutch nurses of all ages, which they can use to create a supportive environment for job crafting.