Career Development in Korean Hospital Nursing Organizations: An Empirical Analysis and Implications

Noting the importance of theories of social exchange and career development in organizational settings, we explored to integrate both perspectives in this research. In the present study we focused on major three parties who participate in career development systems: the individual, the supervisor, and the organization. The purpose of the study was basically twofold. First, we aimed to examine the effects of individual career planning (ICP), supervisor support (SS), and organizational career management (OCM) on organizational commitment (OC). Second, we attempted to investigate the moderating effects of SS and OCM on the relationship between ICP and OC. For this, we developed a research model and proposed five hypotheses. We have conducted a questionnaire survey in hospital nursing organizations. For the sample of 272 nurses, we used hierarchical multiple regression analyses to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that the effects of ICP, SS, and OCM on OC were significantly positive, supporting the hypotheses that ICP (Hypothesis 1), SS (Hypothesis 2), and OCM (Hypothesis 3), respectively, will positively influence nurses' OC. Further, the effect of OCM on OC was stronger than those of ICP and SS. Meanwhile, the moderating effects of SS and OCM on the relationship between ICP and OC were partially supported. The grand interaction effects between ICP and both SS and OCM were nonsignificant. However, when we divided the levels of respondents' SS and OCM into high and low groups, the moderating effects of SS and OCM on the relationship between ICP and OC were significant in the high groups, whereas the moderating effects in the low groups were nonsignificant. In addition, the analysis of descriptive statistics indicated that the level of nurses' perception on OCM was relatively lower than the other variables (i.e., ICP, SS, and OC). Given the findings, we suggested theoretical contributions and practical implications for the effective management of career development systems in hospital nursing organizations. Finally, limitations and directions for future research were described.