Characteristics of the nurse manager's recognition behavior and its relation to sense of coherence of staff nurses in Japan

The recognition behaviors strongly influence the job satisfaction of staff nurses and an extremely important factor for the prevention of burnout and the promotion of retention. Additionally, among internal factors that may affect worker's mental health, a sense of coherence (SOC) is an important concept from the view of the salutogenic theory and stress recognition style. Individual's SOC increases in relation to recognition behavior. However, in Japan, few studies have examined the effect of recognition behaviors on the SOC of staff nurses. The purpose of this study was to investigate how staff nurses perceive recognition behaviors of the nurse manager and to determine the relationship between recognition behaviors and the staff nurses' SOC. This quantitative, cross-sectional study involved 10 hospitals in Japan. A total of 1425 nurses completed the questionnaire. As a result, the perceptions of nurse manager's recognition behaviors by staff nurses were evaluated by presentation and report, individual value and the transfer of responsibility, and professional development. The median score of staff nurse SOC-13 was 50 (IQR; 45-55). Significant differences in SOC scores were found in marital status, age, years of experience, and mental and physical health condition. In conclusion, recognition behaviors by the nurse manager can improve staff nurse's SOC and effectively support the mental health of the staff nurse.