The effect of schedule management empowerment on hospital attractivity and nurses’ loyalty: a mixed method study

Context. Thoroughgoingly transformed by successive crises, particularly Covid-19, medical and nursing organizations have found themselves subject to increasing imbalance. Loyalty building and professional attractivity have come to depend on the confidence, autonomy, and responsibility granted to employees. The cruciality of the physician/head nurse tandem in professional quality of life and patient care is now widely recognized. That much said, as demonstrated in 2020 by the World Health Organization (WH0), scheduling management has remained complex and time-consuming, and continues to represent a major managerial challenge, exacerbated by absenteeism, disinvestment and loss of caregiver motivation. Individual expectations, generational diversity and the quest for self-governance render management tasks even more sensitive. Methods. Conducted in France in 2024, this explanatory sequential mixed methods study of 208 hospital-based nurses is aimed at measuring the effect of collaborative schedule management on nurses’ satisfaction, motivation and investment. Results . The results demonstrate that nurses’ active participation in schedule preparation leads to increased satisfaction. Empowerment and collective discipline reinforce their motivation and involvement, thereby rendering collaborative management a lever for attractiveness and loyalty building. Discussion . The study lends perspective to the notion of collective governance, which arose during the 1970s. As a source of collective and individual motivation, team empowerment necessitates progressive acculturation. An enabling environment allying adaptability and flexibility is of paramount importance, and the front-line manager assumes a central role. Models such as the “Magnet-designated Hospital” illustrate the effectiveness of collaborative management as a means of optimizing the nurse’s time management. By favouring autonomy and responsibility, collaborative management has become an attractivity factor conducive to loyalty building in the hospital sector.