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The purpose of this paper is to develop a causal model that explains the antecedents and mediating factors predicting the organizational commitment of healthcare employees in different work roles.

This study tests an integrative causal model that consists of a number of direct and indirect relationships for antecedents of organizational commitment. It is proposed that the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment is best understood by focusing on the three interrelated facets of job satisfaction, i.e. satisfaction with career advancement, satisfaction with supervisor, and satisfaction with co‐workers. However, the model also advances that these job satisfaction facets have different mediating effects for other antecedents of organizational commitment.

The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) path analysis showed that the job satisfaction facets of career advancement and satisfaction with supervisor had a direct impact on organizational commitment. Employee empowerment, job‐motivating potential, effective leadership, acceptance by co‐workers, role ambiguity and role conflict were also important determinants of organizational commitment. Interestingly, post hoc analyses showed that satisfaction with co‐workers only had an indirect impact on organizational commitment.

While there has been extensive research on organizational commitment and its antecedents in healthcare organizations, most previous studies have been limited either to a single employee group or to a single time frame. This study proposes a practical causal model of antecedents of organizational commitment that tests relationships across time and across different healthcare employee groups.

One way to reduce work‐family conflict is for individuals to have the ability to effectively cope with the stressful demands. The relationships between four styles of work and family coping (direct action, help‐seeking, positive thinking, and avoidance/resignation) and levels of work‐family conflict are considered. Two different forms of work‐family conflict (time‐based and strain‐based) were examined as well as the effect of direction (work interfering with family, family interfering with work) to examine the efficacy of different coping styles. Help‐seeking and direct action coping used at home were associated with lower family interfering with work conflict levels. Avoidance/resignation coping was associated with higher conflict levels of all types. The results suggest individuals may have greater control and opportunity for positive change within the family domain compared with the work environment.

Patient care teams are emerging as health care organizations continue to face resource constraints and greater demands for patient satisfaction. Although health care management researchers and managers tout the benefits of teams, findings from empirical research are mixed regarding the use of patient care teams. To gain a better understanding of patient care teams, we examined the antecedents and consequences of cohesion, one construct hypothesized to contribute to effective team performance. Previous research suggests adequacy of team training, pay equity, and acceptance of teamwork as antecedents positively associated with the team cohesion. Findings support the importance of training and a positive predisposition for teamwork to be significantly related to cohesion. Importantly, cohesion was linked to quality of patient care leading to greater levels of patient satisfaction. Implications for managers and researchers are discussed.