What aspects of the job have most effect on nurses?

The study reported here compared the influences of psychological constructs (job demands and scheduling control) and objective work characteristics (shiftwork, night‐work and hospital department type) on job satisfaction, organisational commitment, burnout and withdrawal intentions. Our hypothesis was that psychological constructs have a higher influence on work‐related attitudes than objective characteristics of work schedules. In addition to the main effects, we proposed an interactive hypothesis: poor attitudes would result from high demands and low control rather than from other combinations of both psychological variables. Using a sample of 153 hospital nurses in Israel, the hypotheses were generally supported. As night‐work, shiftwork and working in intensive care units are unavoidable characteristics of the modern medical environment, these findings are meaningful for improving the personal adjustment of hospital nurses.     

Discourses of privatisation: the case of South Africa's water sector

The neoliberal offensive incipient during the 1970s matured into a globally hegemonic discourse during the 1990s. Developing countries like South Africa have their own peculiar brand of neoliberalism. This has taken various forms in South Africa, one of which is privatisation. Its discursive origins may be traced to key thinkers and institutions. And while there is a general discourse of privatisation there also exist sub-discourses in particular sectors, such as the water services sector. This paper examines the way a general discourse of privatisation evolved in South Africa and how this discourse has filtered into water services delivery. It argues that key role players and institutions acted as disseminators of a discourse of privatisation in the water services sector.