Personal Resilience, Workplace Civility, and Staff Retention in Behavioral/Mental Health Crisis Stabilization Units

Author

Paula D. Stover, Georgia College and State UniversityFollow

Date of Award

Fall 10-30-2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

First Advisor

Krystal Canady

Second Advisor

Carol Dean Baker

Third Advisor

Trisha Velasco

Abstract

Retention of behavioral/mental health (BMH) staff is a critical need in public safety net systems, but a challenge to sustain. Chronic attrition in BMH settings is costly and can have adverse effects on client care. Researchers recommend investigation of personal resilience and workplace civility as potential retention factors. However, no studies explored relationships between these factors in BMH crisis stabilization units (CSU). A southeastern United States public safety net agency needed baseline data to inform workforce retention initiatives. A correlation design was used to measure relationships between personal resilience, workplace civility, and the intention to continue working at three CSUs for nurses and direct care staff. The Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale 25 (CD-RISC) measured personal resilience and the Civility Norms Questionnaire-Brief (CNQ-B) measured workplace civility. Descriptive data were gathered, and subjects were asked how long they intended to continue working in the CSU. Results indicated a significant but weak difference in CD-RISC scores with direct care staff scoring lower than nurses, and significant associations between age and CNQ-B scores with Millennials scoring lower than other generations. No relationships were noted between retention and other variables. Results are limited by the small purposive sample and further study is needed to fully understand these factors. Retention of resilient and civil health care workers in BMH public safety net settings is a crucial public health concern. Future research is needed to inform retention efforts so that high-quality BMH care can be assured for a vulnerable and severely underserved population.

Recommended Citation

Stover, Paula D., "Personal Resilience, Workplace Civility, and Staff Retention in Behavioral/Mental Health Crisis Stabilization Units" (2017). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects. 22.
https://kb.gcsu.edu/dnp/22