The Relationship between Nurses' Engagement and Knowledge Management (Case Study: Firoozabadi Hospital in Tehran)

Knowledge management and employee engagement are among the factors that lead the organization to gain a competitive advantage, increase productivity and improve performance. The present study aims to determine the relationship between nurses' engagement and knowledge management at Firoozabadi Hospital in Tehran.

The present study is surveyed in terms of data collection. In terms of the research method, it is a descriptive correlation. The research population was nurses working at Firoozabadi Hospital, of which 132 were selected as the sample. The data were collected in the spring of 2020 using Jashapara’s knowledge management and Utrechet’s employee engagement questionnaires. SPSS and Liserl software and T-test, Spearman correlation, correlation coefficient, and structural equation modeling were used for data analysis.

The results showed that the status of knowledge management at Firoozabadi Hospital was lower than the average level. Among the dimensions of knowledge management, the knowledge discovery, knowledge creation, knowledge organization, and knowledge sharing dimensions are lower than the average, and only the knowledge application dimension is at a moderate level.The nurses' engagement is at a medium level. There was a positive and moderate relationship between knowledge management and its dimensions and nurses. The engagement has the highest level of correlation to the knowledge application. The least correlation is dedicated to knowledge creation. Nurses' engagement has no relationship with gender; But the nurses' engagement has a significant relationship with their positions.The nurses' experience and education are not related to their engagement. Nurses' knowledge management was related to gender, position, and education, but there was no relationship between service experience and knowledge management. Engagement affects all aspects of knowledge management and has the most effect on knowledge sharing and the least effect on knowledge application.

Hospital administrators can improve organizational performance, guarantee the quality of patient care, and better clinical services by paying more attention to the nurses' engagement and the impact it can have on the improvement of knowledge management programs. This requires strengthening the subscription infrastructure, organizing, creating, discovering, and applying knowledge through the formulation of knowledge management and operational management programs such as creating an integrated knowledge management system, funding for technological facilities and knowledge resources, and creating a reward system. Financial and non-financial incentives and incentives are focusing on the potential of hospitals and health centers to implement knowledge management programs and create clinical and educational opportunities for new knowledge.