ORIGINAL ARTICLE Relationships between core factors of knowledge management in hospital nursing organisations and outcomes of nursing performance Eun Ju Lee, Hong Soon Kim and Hye Young Kim Aims and objectives. The study was conducted to investigate the levels of imple- mentation of knowledge management and outcomes of nursing performance, to What does this paper contribute examine the relationships between core knowledge management factors and nurs- to the wider global clinical ing performance outcomes and to identify core knowledge management factors community? affecting these outcomes. • This study contributes to the Background. Effective knowledge management is very important to achieve development of effective and effi- strong organisational performance. The success or failure of knowledge manage- cient KM systems and strategies for improving both the produc- ment depends on how effectively an organisation’s members share and use their tivity and competitiveness of knowledge. Because knowledge management plays a key role in enhancing nurs- healthcare organisations. ing performance, identifying the core factors and investigating the level of knowl- • This study’s results will be basic edge management in a given hospital are priorities to ensure a high quality of data to ensure high quality of nursing for patients. nursing for patients through Design. The study employed a descriptive research procedure. identifying the core factors and investigating the level of KM in Participants. The study sample consisted of 192 nurses registered in three large healthcare organisations. healthcare organisations in South Korea. Method. The variables demographic characteristics, implementation of core knowledge management factors and outcomes of nursing performance were examined and analysed in this study. Results. The relationships between the core knowledge management factors and outcomes of nursing performance as well as the factors affecting the performance outcomes were investigated. A knowledge-sharing culture and organisational learning were found to be core factors affecting nursing performance. Conclusion. The study results provide basic data that can be used to formulate effective knowledge management strategies for enhancing nursing performance in hospital nursing organisations. In particular, prioritising the adoption of a knowl- edge-sharing culture and organisational learning in knowledge management sys- tems might be one method for organisations to more effectively manage their knowledge resources and thus to enhance the outcomes of nursing performance and achieve greater business competitiveness. Relevance to clinical practice. The study results can contribute to the develop- ment of effective and efficient knowledge management systems and strategies for enhancing knowledge-sharing culture and organisational learning that can improve both the productivity and competitiveness of healthcare organisations. Authors: Eun Ju Lee, PhD, RN, Researcher, Research Institute of Correspondence: Eun Ju Lee, Researcher, Research Institute of Nursing Science, Keimyung University, Deagu; Hong Soon Kim, Nursing Science, Keimyung University, Sindang-dong, Dalseo-gu, RN, Professor, Department of Nursing, Andong Science College, Daegu 704-701, Korea. Telephone: +82 54 855 0671. Andong-si, Gyeongbuk; Hye Young Kim, PhD, RN, Professor, E-mail: [email protected] College of Nursing, Keimyung University, Daegu, Korea © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Journal of Clinical Nursing, doi: 10.1111/jocn.12603 1 EJ Lee et al. Key words: knowledge management, nursing organisation, outcome of nursing performance Accepted for publication: 20 February 2014 given hospital should result in improved organisational per- Introduction formance. At this time, studies are needed to investigate the In the information society of the 21st century, knowledge is levels of KM achieved in Korean healthcare organisations the leading strategic element for enhancing the international where varying KM practices are conducted and to deter- competitive power of organisations (Solow 1997, Stewart mine how much practical impact the core KM factors have 1998), and knowledge is being emphasised as the most had on nursing performance. important resource for an enterprise to survive and become Studies of KM in healthcare organisations have been con- more robust (Lee 2006). Therefore, effective management of ducted to investigate the effects of the development and knowledge is very important to achieve strong organisational application of informatics systems (Hsia et al. 2006, Ghosh performance (Chun-Ming et al. 2012Knowledge manage- & Scott 2007, Juarez et al. 2009, Wu et al. 2010), to con- ment (KM) can promote such organisational performance sider the necessity for and methods of KM (Dreher 2009), only when members of an organisation actively share and use to identify factors affecting healthcare KM (Chen et al. their knowledge (Shih-Hsiung & Gwo-Guang 2013). 2011), to examine effective levels of KM implemented by In a healthcare organisation, the quality of the nursing team leaders and care providers (Sanchez-Polo & Cegarra- workforce, which constitutes the greatest portion of health- Navarro 2008) and to explore the relationship between care staff, strongly impacts the productivity of the institu- KM and nursing competence (Hwang 2011). However, few tion (Oh & Chung 2011). In particular, nurses must be recent studies have attempted to identify the relationships extremely knowledgeable as primary professional healthcare between KM and outcomes of nursing performance. There- providers. To improve nurses’ productivity, nursing depart- fore, this study was undertaken to investigate the levels of ments have tried to implement effective KM in ongoing implementation of KM and outcomes of nursing perfor- patient assessments and scientific nursing care as well as in mance, to examine the relationships between core KM fac- hundreds of professional guidelines and protocols (Bohmer€ tors and nursing performance outcomes and to identify 2009). In South Korea, most large hospitals – those with core KM factors affecting these outcomes. more than 300 beds – are using hospital information sys- tems (HIS) incorporating nursing job manuals and clinical Background pathways and guidelines provided by the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation (KIHA) to improve the quality Knowledge management of nursing care. In one approach to improving KM for clin- ical nurses, the Korea Nurses Association (KNA) has ‘Knowledge management’ is a term that was newly intro- applied web-based learning, cyber-learning, web-based duced by Nonaka, who originated the concept of a ‘knowl- medication instruction developed by Samsung Seoul Hospi- edge-creating organization’ in 1991 (Nonaka 1991), and it tal and other educational methods. is defined as organisational activities related to exploring However, the effectiveness of the KM approach varies what knowledge is and how to create, transfer and use it for each hospital (Choi 2005). The reason for this variation (Davenport et al. 1998). KM is a management method used might be that KM has recently been focusing on the use of to rapidly improve the problem-solving skills within an information technology (IT) systems that facilitate storage, organisation by discovering the knowledge and know-how retrieval and application of knowledge to enhance nurses’ of organisation members and sharing them throughout the competence (Hsia et al. 2006, Wu et al. 2010, Chen et al. organisation (Nonaka 1991). 2011). However, KM practices should combine core ele- For effective KM to be performed, the core factors con- ments of technical infrastructure such as IT with a culture stituting KM had to be identified. The core factors are the that facilitates and drives the KM process, an organisation- essential contents to be included in KM systems. In cases al system that supports and rewards sharing of knowledge, where these factors for enhancing organisational perfor- encouragement of group learning and the presence of mance are overlooked, the probability of the success of KM responsible team leaders (Sanchez-Polo & Cegarra-Navarro is low (Guak 2011). The core factors of KM have been 2008). A suitable combination of these KM factors at a somewhat differently identified in previous studies. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 2 Journal of Clinical Nursing Original article Core factors of knowledge management According to a study by Sanchez-Polo and when nursing leaders make accurate estimates of the Cegarra-Navarro (2008), KM practices have four core capacity, attitude and level of knowledge of their nursing factors: technical infrastructure, people to facilitate and staff members (Choi 2005). drive the KM process, a system that supports and Outcomes of nursing performance can be evaluated by rewards sharing of knowledge, and the presence of good considering the quality and quantity of nursing perfor- leadership. Ghosh and Scott (2007) identified the core mance, usage of time and resources, and other factors factors of KM as organisational structure, organisational (Jeffs et al. 2011). In the study of Ko et al. (2007), four culture and organisational technology. Their study measurement categories for outcomes of nursing perfor- suggested that a KM process for a nursing organisation mance were identified: the capacity of nursing perfor- should include making knowledge visible and showing mance, attitude of nursing performance, improvement of the role of knowledge in the organisation, developing a the performance