Assignment 1: Theoretical Foundation for Research Paper (Major Assessment)

Analysis and Evaluation of Frameworks and Theories

Phenomenon of Interest

            There is a difference between framework and theory. A theory in research shows the relationship between concepts in the phenomenon of interest (POI) by explaining, predicting, and understanding the topic under the study. On the other hand, the framework is a research’s roadmap and support research theory. The framework relies on existing theory such as path-goal theory and Victor Vroom's expectancy theory.

            The POI is motivation leading to workers' satisfaction. The analyzed frameworks of the POI are path-goal theory and Victor Vroom's expectancy theory. Under the path-goal theory, healthcare workers get empowered and satisfied to become productive employees of the hospital (Farhan, 2018). With Victor Vroom's expectancy theory, it has crucial implications for motivating hospital's medical and nursing staff (De Simone, 2015). They get motivated if the hospital provides the resources and good working conditions and patients increase their satisfaction scores if their healthcare needs are met. Motivation is what makes nurses exert a high level of effort when providing healthcare services because they expect positive outcomes. There is a need for further research on why management's lack of understanding demotivates employees.

            Victor Vroom's expectancy model aligns with the researcher's questions on what can be done to motivate medical and nursing staff. The model is derived from the concepts of social psychology (social sciences) whereby a person's performance depends on aspects such as knowledge, abilities, personality, and skills which influence the behavior of a person. The theory strengths are triggering a motivational process that enhances performance within a setting where goals are properly set (De Simone, 2015). Also, workers' expectations get boosted by rewards and incentives. The weaknesses are that the model or theory cannot work in practice without active participation from nurse leaders or executives. It assumes that all elements are known; thus, leaders fail to find out employees recognize as rewards.

In the process of reviewing motivation in nursing practice, emerged consideration was how the hospital management providing specific motivations and rewards, but workers cannot recognize them, can get a remedy.

Questions

How can hospital management that provide specific motivations and rewards, but workers cannot recognize them, resolve the problem?

How do theories meet the researcher’s original thought regarding the developed research questions on motivation? 

References

De Simone, S. (2015). Expectancy value theory: Motivating health care workers. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 5(2), 19-23. http://www.aijcrnet.com/journals/Vol_5_No_2_April_2015/3.pdf

Farhan, B. Y. (2018). Application of path-goal leadership theory and learning theory in a learning organization. Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR), 34(1), 13-22.