Assessment of the effects of the internet and social media use on work performance of physicians and nurses at the hospitals in the south of Palestine
Date
2020-07-26
Authors
Nida' Fayez Iamael Hamamdeh
نداء فايز اسماعيل حمامدة
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Al-Quds University
Abstract
Background: The internet and social media applications in the workplace have increased dramatically. It has both beneficial and harmful effects. Also, it seems to be the tool that affects the job performance in workplace.
Aim: This study was conducted to assess the beneficial and harmful effects of internet and social media applications use at workplace on work performance of physicians and nurses in the major referral hospitals in Hebron and Bethlehem cities.
Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted by using self-reported questionnaires: the socio-demographic data sheet, Work related Social Media Questionnaire (WSMQ) and William Anderson Work Performance Scale. The sample of the study included 409 participants (169 physicians and 240 nurses) from four hospitals in Hebron and Bethlehem cities which were Hebron Governmental Hospital, Al- Ahli Hospital, Beit-Jala Hospital and Arab Society for Rehabilitation.
Results: Pearson correlation test showed a weak positive statistically significant relationship was found between the WSMQ and William Anderson Work Performance Scale(r=0.198؛ p=.000). On other hand, the findings revealed that the overall mean score for WSMQ was high (mean score 3.57), and the higher mean was for the beneficial WSMQ (mean score 3.17) compared with (2.08) for the harmful WSMQ. The mean for William Anderson Work Performance scale was moderate Performance (3.35), the higher mean was for Organizational Citizenship Behavior-Individual(OCBI) (3.68) followed by In Role-Behavior (IRB) with a mean of (3.24) and the lowest was for Organizational Citizenship Behavior-Organization (OCBO) with a mean of (3.15).
Further, the study results showed that the independent variables such as monthly income, specialization, professional title, the devices used to access internet and social media applications and the network used to access internet and social media applications had significant relationships with WSMQ. In addition, the findings showed that gender, marital status and monthly income, employment status, had obstacles that prevented from using internet and social media applications which showed significant relationships with work performance.
Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that only specialization had a statistically significant relationship with WSMQ and gender, employment status, and had obstacles prevented from using internet and social media applications were a statistically significant relationships with the work performance. Linear regression revealed that there was a significant linear relationship between social media and work performance (P-value=0.000).
Conclusion: This study revealed that there is a weak positive statistically significant relationship between the internet and social media applications and work Performance in workplace among Palestinian doctors and nurses. However, the beneficial effects of social media was higher than harmful in the workplace and the mean for William Anderson Work Performance scale was moderate (3.35). Therefore, the Palestinian health care professionals should be encouraged to use internet and social media applications to improve health outcomes, develop a professional network, increase awareness of new discoveries, and provide health information to the community other than communication. Also, the administrative staff and policy makers in the Palestinian hospitals should regulate the use of internet and social media applications in hospitals by developing a clear policy for their use in the hospitals