4.6 Theme five: Reasons for job continuance
4.6.2 A love for the patients
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negative aspects that they may face. These individuals have a positive attitude towards their work and remain in this type of work because of the love they have for this type of work. In a study by conducted by Engelbrecht (2006) it was found that when an individual has a positive attitude towards their work and are happy about the things they have to do at work they have a love for their job and this is ultimately shown through the passion in which they fulfil their daily tasks at work.
Thus in conclusion this theme can also be related back to the Job demands resources model with regards to the motivational process. This process assumes that job resources have a motivational nature and can lead to high work engagement. This is in line with the motivational nature of passion as well. Harmonious passion refers to “a motivational force that leads the person to engage in the activity willingly and engenders a sense of volition and personal endorsement about pursuing the activity” (Vallerand and Houlfort, 2003, p. 178). Thus the resources supplement the work that the participant engages in which in turn leads to a passion and an engagement and investment to the work.
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“Because I love them and I like to help ….I am doing what I can see they need.
Some of them have no parents at all. So we are their parents they need our life.
They need our thinking. They need our help. (Tears up) The other children they come here long time ago they got no aunty they got no mother they got no body.
When I work here I am their mother. You are blanket for him making him warm.
Because when they open their eyes in the morning they don’t see a mother they don’t know what is a father, shame they only know if you are coming with a spoon with food, they only know you are coming to take them to the bathroom to bath.
That’s all she knows. . They haven’t got the other things you know. ...I love the kids”.
Participant seven states:
“Because even when I am off I am thinking , I am missing them too. …… most of the children here are orphans with no parents that’s why I like to be working here. I love the children because some have no mother that’s why I feel more important. I love them. Because they got no mothers. I feel I am a mother to these children so if I am here I am happy to work with them because I am a mother also to these children because they got no mothers. ...because I am feeling. The children got no parents. I feel I must be work here because most of the time the people got no love. Sometime people give away the baby even when it’s a normal child they got no love. me I was loving these children”.
And lastly participant eight said:
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“Because urhm because I can say because I have this bond between me and these children .Some of them don’t have parents ja. It’s important for me to give them love that they didn’t get ja and make them feel at home. I can do, but I don’t know if I am doing the right things for them, they recognize that I’m doing the right things to them. I don’t know, but I am trying”.
The participants in this study indicated that one of the major reasons why they remained in this type of work despite the challenges and demands that they face and the highly stressful environment they work in is due to the emotional attachment they have forged with the children. The children have become an important part in their lives and they have become an important factor in the children’s lives. Many of the children see these nurses as their parents as they do not have parents of their own. And in the same token many of the nurses see these children as their own and love and care for them as such.
In a study conducted by Mackoff and Triolo (2008) it was found that nurses in that organisation remained in their work because they love working with the patients and therefore have a love for the patients. This study went further to state that theses nurses view their work as a calling. This indicates just how dedicated the nurses really are despite the stressful and demanding nature of their job.
This may be linked to the motivational process that is described in the Job demands
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resources model. A love for the patients is a positive and motivational factor which ultimately leads to increased engagement by the employee
There is insufficient literature available on this sub theme. However from the current study it can be noted that this is an extremely important reason as to why the nurses remain in this type of work. The nurses become so attached and involved with the children that they love the children and therefore love the job which ultimately leads to work engagement and job continuance. It is important to note that despite how long an individual has worked in the particular organisation in the current study it does not determine that the individual is engaged or not. Therefore engagement occurs in this case when the individual develops and love for the patients and the job.