Organizational socialization of hospital employees. A comparative view of occupational groups.

As the delivery of high-quality medical care becomes increasingly dependent on the attitudes and behaviors of health care workers, more analysis of personnel programs designed for hospital employees is needed. This research examines the organizational socialization of hospital employees--the ways in which employees are attracted to, recruited by, and developed and trained within hospitals. Using interview and questionnaire data collected from one hundred eighteen hospital employees (nurses, nurse's aides, radiology technologists, tradesmen, and accounting clerks), the research first identifies three distinct stages of socialization and specifies the activities engaged in by employees at each stage. Secondly, the research identifies four variables as possible outcomes of the socialization process (general satisfaction, mutual influence, internal work motivation, and job involvement) and empirically links important aspects of the socialization process to those outcomes. Finally, some differences between the experiences of professional, paraprofessional, and nonprofessional workers are identified and explained, and implications for the conduct of hospital socialization programs are drawn.