Background: Compassionate care is primarily a moral virtue, which implies being involved with others in their difficulties and raising the level of consciousness and wellbeing (von Dietze & Orb, 2000). This study has increased in recent years due to the positive impact of compassionate care on people's health. Despite its importance, there is a lack of studies that shows what role compassionate care plays in the development of Healthy & Resilient Health Care Organizations (Salanova, Llorens, Cifre & Martínez, 2012) especially when gender is considered as a control variable.
Hypotheses/Research Questions: Analyze the mediator role of compassionate care between job social resources (social support climate, coordination, emotional competence, positive leadership) and healthy organizational outcomes (commitment, extra and in role performance) controlled by gender in hospitals.
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size: A sample of 1420 healthcare professionals (79% female, 21% male) from different hospitals from all over Spain.
Design: Multigroup Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis was implemented with SPSS AMOS statistical program.
Results: The analysis showed the significant evidence (2=117.189 (2); p<.001) for the partial mediation model, 2=407.539, df=102, NFI=.91, IFI=.93, CFI=.93; RMSEA=.046, compared to the fully mediated model, 2=584,728, df=104, NFI=.87, IFI=.89, CFI=.89; RMSEA=.057.
Scientific Contribution: Compassionate care partially mediated the positive relationship between job social resources and healthy organizational outcomes controlled by gender in healthcare context. Specifically, those professionals (men and women) with high levels of job social resources, showed high compassion with patients which in turn was positively related to healthy organizational outcomes. Moreover, a direct positive relationship was obtained between job social resources and healthy organizational outcomes in health care organizations.