Date of Award

Winter 2-20-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (PhD)

Department

Industrial/Organizational Psychology

First Advisor/Committee Member

Joey Collins

Second Advisor/Committee Member

Mark North

Third Advisor/Committee Member

Meghan Quint

Keywords

safety culture, organizational commitment, decompression, nurses, healthcare, moderation, mediation, resilience

Abstract

This dissertation examines the role of decompression in moderating and mediating the relationship between safety culture and affective organizational commitment among nurses in a pediatric healthcare organization. Data from 908 nurses were analyzed to test two primary hypotheses. The first hypothesis proposed that safety culture would positively predict organizational commitment, and the results supported this, showing that stronger safety cultures were associated with greater organizational commitment (b = 0.55, p < .001). The second hypothesis suggested that decompression would moderate the relationship between safety culture and organizational commitment. However, decompression did not significantly moderate this relationship across the overall sample (b = 0.03, p = .258). Post hoc mediation analysis, however, revealed that decompression acted as a significant mediator (b = 0.071, p = .05), highlighting that decompression enhances the effect of safety culture on organizational commitment. These findings underscore the importance of fostering a strong safety culture and implementing decompression strategies, such as mindfulness practices and structured breaks, to improve nurse well-being and retention. Implications for healthcare organizations aiming to enhance workforce resilience and commitment are discussed, alongside suggestions for future research exploring departmental variations in decompression's effectiveness.

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