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A moral imperative to improve the quality of work-life for nurses: Building inclusive social capital capacity
Anne Hofmeyer
Project Officer, School of Nursing, Flinders University, SA; University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Abstract
The complexity and incessant change in the corporatised health care workplace has influenced nurses' work choices, morale, quality of work-life and the wellbeing of patients. Thus, there is an urgent moral imperative to improve the quality of work-life for nurses. To this end, it is crucial to re-define progress beyond the sole economic markers of success and profit in the health care workplace. This paper argues for the identification of ethical markers and indicators of organisational success based on bridging and linking social capital which could be used to re-organise health care organisations, hence crafting inclusive moral spaces where nurses can safely work and provide quality care for patients. Social and ethical evaluation is well suited to examine current workplace dilemmas from a psychosocial perspective and provide a framework for best practice in building capacity in effective social relations and family friendly, ethical workplaces.
Keywords
nursing, social and ethical audits, ethics, workforce, capacity building, social capital
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