Volume 19, Issue 1 (3-2025)
Qom Univ Med Sci J 2025, 19(1): 126-138 |
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Azari H, Alipour Nodoushan K, Ebrazeh A, Pourezzat A A, Roodsaz H, Ahmadi M. Impact of Nurses’ Public Service Motivation and Organizational Commitment on the Quality of Services Provided in Public Hospitals. Qom Univ Med Sci J 2025; 19 (1) : 2682.4
URL: http://journal.muq.ac.ir/article-1-4062-en.html
URL: http://journal.muq.ac.ir/article-1-4062-en.html
Hossein Azari *1 
, Khadijeh Alipour Nodoushan2 , Ali Ebrazeh3 , Ali Asghar Pourezzat4 , Habib Roodsaz5 , Mohammad Ahmadi2
, Khadijeh Alipour Nodoushan2 , Ali Ebrazeh3 , Ali Asghar Pourezzat4 , Habib Roodsaz5 , Mohammad Ahmadi2
1- Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Accounting, University of Allameh Tabataba’i, Tehran, Iran. , hosseinazari51@gmail.com
2- Department of Health and Religion, Spiritual Health Research Center, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
3- Department of Public Health, School of Health, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
4- Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
5- Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Accounting, University of Allameh Tabataba’i, Tehran, Iran.
2- Department of Health and Religion, Spiritual Health Research Center, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
3- Department of Public Health, School of Health, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
4- Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
5- Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Accounting, University of Allameh Tabataba’i, Tehran, Iran.
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Introduction
One of the important strategies used by organizations is to focus on improving service quality. The increasing similarity between public and private sector organizations in recent years has led to the growing importance of service quality in the public sector. Various models and classifications have been proposed to measure service quality. One of these models is SERVQUAL. The SERVQUAL model was presented by Parasuraman et al. and has five components: Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy. One of the prominent factors affecting the quality of services in the public sector is the employees’ motivation to perform their jobs properly in a way that meets citizens’ expectations and provides services with the highest quality. This enables organizations to satisfy citizens and clients. Motivated employees are a driving force for better service delivery. Efforts to improve the performance of public institutions depend on the ability to successfully motivate employees and managers. The public service motivation (PSM) is a concept for measuring the motivation of employees to perform activities in public institutions. It is defined as an individual’s willingness to respond to incentives that are primarily and exclusively rooted in public organizations. Perry and Wise derived six dimensions to measure PSM: attraction to public policy making, commitment to the public interest, social justice, civic duty, compassion, and self-sacrifice. However, as a result of their empirical research, they eliminated two items and, as a result, proposed four dimensions of attraction to public policy making, commitment to public interests, compassion, and self-sacrifice. PSM can influence organizational commitment and lead to appropriate service quality. Vandenabeele confirmed the mediating effect of organizational commitment on the relationship between PSM and employee performance among Belgian government employees. Ritz confirmed the impact of PSM and organizational commitment on the performance of the Swiss federal sector by considering several mediating variables. In this research, we aim to assess the effect of nurses’ PSM on public services quality, considering the role of organizational commitment.
Methods
This is a field study using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study population consists of nurses and patients at Shohada Hospital in Qom province. Participants were 200 nurses and 385 patients. They were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data collection tools included Perry and Wise’s PSM scale with 28 items and four domains, Meyer & Allen’s organizational commitment scale with 15 items and three domains, and Parasuraman et al.’s SERVQUAL questionnaire with 23 items and five domains.
The SEM was conducted using LISREL software, version 8.8 to test the research hypotheses.
Results
Table 1 presents the mean scores of the study variables. The SEM model (Figure 1) showed that the effect of PSM on organizational commitment (0.65), the effect of PSM on service quality (0.39) and the effect of organizational commitment on service quality (0.59) were significant (t>1.96)
Conclusion
The results showed that the PSM and organizational commitment of nurses are effective in improving the quality of services in Iranian public hospitals. Their organizational commitment also has a significant effect on the quality of services provided. Therefore, it is necessary to plan for improving nurses’ PSM and organizational commitment in order to promote service quality in public hospitals of Iran. Due to their direct contact with patients, public hospitals are under the scrutiny of citizens regarding the quality of service provided and for this reason, politicians and managers should be extra sensitive to it. This study has provided evidence regarding the validity of the PSM concept in a context other than Western societies (in Iran) to help improve the quality of public services and increase knowledge of organizational behavior in Iranian public hospitals.
Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
This research has a reference code of 1606403 from the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc). In this research, all ethical principles have been observed, including the confidentiality of participants’ information, their informed consent, and their right to leave the research.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for profit sectors.
Authors contributions
All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of the study, data collection and analysis, interpretation of the results, and drafting of the manuscript. Each author approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all nurses and patients who participated in this research for their cooperation.
One of the important strategies used by organizations is to focus on improving service quality. The increasing similarity between public and private sector organizations in recent years has led to the growing importance of service quality in the public sector. Various models and classifications have been proposed to measure service quality. One of these models is SERVQUAL. The SERVQUAL model was presented by Parasuraman et al. and has five components: Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy. One of the prominent factors affecting the quality of services in the public sector is the employees’ motivation to perform their jobs properly in a way that meets citizens’ expectations and provides services with the highest quality. This enables organizations to satisfy citizens and clients. Motivated employees are a driving force for better service delivery. Efforts to improve the performance of public institutions depend on the ability to successfully motivate employees and managers. The public service motivation (PSM) is a concept for measuring the motivation of employees to perform activities in public institutions. It is defined as an individual’s willingness to respond to incentives that are primarily and exclusively rooted in public organizations. Perry and Wise derived six dimensions to measure PSM: attraction to public policy making, commitment to the public interest, social justice, civic duty, compassion, and self-sacrifice. However, as a result of their empirical research, they eliminated two items and, as a result, proposed four dimensions of attraction to public policy making, commitment to public interests, compassion, and self-sacrifice. PSM can influence organizational commitment and lead to appropriate service quality. Vandenabeele confirmed the mediating effect of organizational commitment on the relationship between PSM and employee performance among Belgian government employees. Ritz confirmed the impact of PSM and organizational commitment on the performance of the Swiss federal sector by considering several mediating variables. In this research, we aim to assess the effect of nurses’ PSM on public services quality, considering the role of organizational commitment.
Methods
This is a field study using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study population consists of nurses and patients at Shohada Hospital in Qom province. Participants were 200 nurses and 385 patients. They were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data collection tools included Perry and Wise’s PSM scale with 28 items and four domains, Meyer & Allen’s organizational commitment scale with 15 items and three domains, and Parasuraman et al.’s SERVQUAL questionnaire with 23 items and five domains.
The SEM was conducted using LISREL software, version 8.8 to test the research hypotheses.
Results
Table 1 presents the mean scores of the study variables. The SEM model (Figure 1) showed that the effect of PSM on organizational commitment (0.65), the effect of PSM on service quality (0.39) and the effect of organizational commitment on service quality (0.59) were significant (t>1.96)
Conclusion
The results showed that the PSM and organizational commitment of nurses are effective in improving the quality of services in Iranian public hospitals. Their organizational commitment also has a significant effect on the quality of services provided. Therefore, it is necessary to plan for improving nurses’ PSM and organizational commitment in order to promote service quality in public hospitals of Iran. Due to their direct contact with patients, public hospitals are under the scrutiny of citizens regarding the quality of service provided and for this reason, politicians and managers should be extra sensitive to it. This study has provided evidence regarding the validity of the PSM concept in a context other than Western societies (in Iran) to help improve the quality of public services and increase knowledge of organizational behavior in Iranian public hospitals.
Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
This research has a reference code of 1606403 from the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc). In this research, all ethical principles have been observed, including the confidentiality of participants’ information, their informed consent, and their right to leave the research.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for profit sectors.
Authors contributions
All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of the study, data collection and analysis, interpretation of the results, and drafting of the manuscript. Each author approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all nurses and patients who participated in this research for their cooperation.
Type of Study: Original Article |
Subject:
مدیریت بهداشتی
Received: 2025/01/11 | Accepted: 2025/06/7 | Published: 2025/03/30
Received: 2025/01/11 | Accepted: 2025/06/7 | Published: 2025/03/30
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