Factors related to the organizational silence of Korean nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the variables related to the organizational silence of Korean hospital nurses and to examine the effect sizes of correlations between the related variables and sub-types of organizational silence.Methods: Relevant studies were searched through a systematic search in six Korean electronic databases (RISS, ScienceON, KCI, DBpia, e-Article, and KISS) using June 2022 as the end date. Thirteen studies were identified through a systematic review and eight of them were meta-analyzed. The correlation effect size r (ESr) for each related variable was calculated.Results: Twenty-two related variables were identified from the systematic review. Of them, organizational culture was the most frequently examined. Seven variables (three organizational, two leader-member exchange, and two consequences of organizational silence) were found eligible for the meta-analysis. The intention of turnover (ESr=.39; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI=.32 to .45) and leader-member exchange (“manager’s leaderships” ESr=-.33, 95% CI= -.43 to -.21; “manager’s inclination to reject negative feedback” ESr=.32, 95% CI=.23 to .39) had larger correlation effect sizes than the other variables that related to organizational silence, in particular, acquiescent silence, which had the largest correlation effect size among the three sub-types of organizational silence.Conclusion: These findings show that the intention of turnover and leader-member exchanges were the main factors that related to the organizational silence. This indicates that it is necessary to develop management and education programs, as well as communication systems that focus on reducing and managing organizational silence, especially acquiescent silence.