Influence of Work-Life Balance Initiatives on Commitment of Nurses in Public Hospitals in Kenya

Abstract

The demand for work-life balance initiatives to enhance commitment of employees and other positive work-outcomes by employees, employers and managers is rising greatly. As a result, work-life balance has become a hot topic of discussion among the researchers, scholars, managers, employers and employees just to mention a few. The main goal of this study was to investigate the influence of work-life balance initiatives on levels of commitment of nurses in public hospitals in Kenya. The study objectives were specific on determining the influence of flexible work arrangements, evaluating the influence of leave arrangement, examining the influence of employee assistance programs, establishing the influence of WLB initiatives, evaluating the moderating effect of supervisor support on the influence of WLB initiatives on the levels of commitment of nurses working in public hospitals in Kenya and examining the moderating effect of co-worker support on the influence of WLB initiatives on the levels of commitment of nurses working in public hospitals in Kenya. The study was guided by five hypotheses in line with the research objectives. The target population was 1217 nurses. With the use of multistage sampling, proportionate sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample size of the of the study. The sample comprised of 364 nurses through proportionate simple random sampling. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Positive responses were received from 309 respondents out of the sampled 364 respondents giving approximate 85% response rate. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as Correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to analyse data. Qualitative data were organized into similar themes, patterns were established and narrative and interpretive reports were written and quantitative data presentation was done using frequency tables and percentages. The study findings contributed to the body of knowledge on how public hospital management team can increase the level of commitment of nurses. The study findings recorded that there was a positive significant correlation between work-life balance initiatives and levels of commitment of nurses in public hospitals in Kenya. The study also confirmed that supervisor support and co-worker support had a positive significant moderating effect on the influence of work-life balance initiatives on commitment of nurses in public hospitals in Kenya. The study established that flexible work arrangements, leave arrangements, employee assistance programs had a significant and positive influence on levels of commitment of nurses in public hospitals in Kenya.Based on these findings, it was concluded that work life balance initiatives positively and significantly influence the level of commitment of nurses in public hospitals in Kenya. Therefore, the study recommended that both the national government and the county governments should come up with strategies of enhancing on the adequacy of leave arrangements, adequacy employee assistance programs, favourableness of flexible work arrangements and favourableness of supervisor support and co-worker support so as to raise the commitment levels of nurses. The research therefore suggested an extensive research on the influence of work-life balance initiatives on commitment of nurses especially in private as well as faith-based hospitals in Kenya.