Abstract

Political Skill Perception among Nurses: A University Hospital Sample

Political skill is a positive force and is elemental to job and career success in organizations today. The aim of this study is to determine political skill perception among nurses. A cross-sectional survey design was used for this study. This study consisted of all of the nurses working at a public university hospital in the city of Istanbul. The total count sampling method was used in the study. A questionnaire form was delivered to all nurses and the purpose of the study was explained, and data was collected from 516 individuals. The Political Skills Scale was used in data collection. The political skill levels of nurses are above average. Positive relationships between scores from the “forming relationship networks” sub-dimension and age, occupational experience, and duration of employment within the institution were found. Nurses with management duties were found to have significantly higher scores in the same sub-dimension compared to those without, while nurses who worked at service units had significantly lower scores in the same subdimension compared to nurses working at other units. In order to increase the political skills of nurses, all political skill dimensions, especially social networking skills, should be supported and developer activities and group works should be done. Political skills can help increase our understanding of the impact processes in organizations and human resource decisions and actions, as managers and employees affect many variables such as organizational policy, performance evaluation, interpersonal communication, networking ability, stress, and social capital.

• Full-Text
• PDF