How the ‘warped’ relationships between nurses' emotions, attitudes, social support and perceived organizational conditions impact customer orientation

Much research focuses on organizational culture and its impact on customer orientation or emotional states and their impact on job satisfaction and well-being. This study aims to combine the complex roles of nurses' emotion states and job satisfaction in a model that identifies the effects of standards for service delivery (organizational culture), supervisor and co-worker support and the development of customer orientation.A previous study examined the relationships between nurses' personal resources, job satisfaction and customer orientation. This study examines how these variables relate to organizational standards and social support.A cross-sectional survey using a self-completion questionnaire with validated, existing scales to measure standards for service delivery, supervisor and co-worker support, job satisfaction, empathic concern, emotional exhaustion and customer orientation.Nurses (159) completed the questionnaire in 2010. The data were analysed using WarpPLS, a structural equation modelling software package.The results indicate that the final model fits the data well and explains 84% of the variance in customer orientation. The findings show the importance of standard for service delivery (organizational culture), supervisor and co-worker support on customer orientation. Nurses' personal resources interact with these, particularly supervisor and co-worker support, to develop staff job satisfaction and empathy.The need for support mechanisms in stressful times is discussed. We propose that training in compassion and empathy would help leaders to model desirable attributes that contribute towards customer orientation.