The lived experience of meaningful work in healthcare provider organisations

This research examined the lived experience of meaningful work in health service provider organisations. Specifically, the study sought to make different health workforce perspectives of meaningful work visible and their antecedents.

The experience of meaningful work has been studied in the health services. Conceptual and empirical developments have reported that meaningful work is linked to employee engagement and outcomes, such as job satisfaction and stress reduction. In contrast, meaningless work has been linked to burnout and detachment. However, there was a need to give more attention to the experiences of different occupational groups, using an aligned methodology.

The study was implemented in two health service provider organisations. A qualitative case study design was developed within the philosophical stance of social constructivism. It used a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews to answer the research questions. Qualitative semi-structured interviews focused on lived experience and explored themes informed by quantitative data.

The findings were drawn from clinical and non-clinical workforces. Template analysis discovered that a common workforce experience was located within a framework of collegiality, competence, organisation, task and outcome and individual factors.

The research develops a theoretical understanding of meaningful work in the health services. The evidence supports the need to give explicit attention to meaningful work within the system of work and job design, culture and workforce development, in order to improve the experience of people working in the health services. The findings and recommendations will also support those responsible for operational policy and practices and the health services’ workforce.