A theoretical approach to studying work empowerment in nursing: a review of studies testing Kanter's theory of structural power in organizations.

Although work empowerment is a common theme in the current nursing systems literature, few systematic programs of research have studies the phenomenon from an explicitly theoretical framework. The author summarizes the results of a series of studies in a program of research designed to test Rosabeth Moss Kanter's Structural Theory of Organizational Behavior in the nursing population. Future directions for theory and research are proposed.