Identifying the Outcomes of Employee Well-Being in Hospitals Affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences: A Meta-Synthesis Study
Keywords:
Employee well-being, meta-synthesis, fuzzy DelphiAbstract
This study aimed to identify, validate, and prioritize the outcomes of employee well-being in hospitals affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. This developmental study employed a descriptive–survey design and a mixed-methods approach. In the qualitative phase, a meta-synthesis was conducted according to Sandelowski and Barroso’s seven-stage framework. The study population comprised scientific articles, books, theses, and other scholarly documents concerning employee well-being outcomes published in reputable national and international databases between 2005 and 2025. Of 241 initially identified sources, 50 relevant studies were purposively selected and analyzed through thematic analysis. The methodological validity of the included studies was assessed using Glynn’s critical appraisal instrument, while coding reliability was examined using Cohen’s kappa coefficient. In the quantitative phase, 16 experts working in hospitals affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences were purposively recruited. The themes derived from the meta-synthesis were subsequently validated and prioritized through a two-round fuzzy Delphi process. Cohen’s kappa coefficient was 0.759 and statistically significant (p<0.001), indicating satisfactory inter-rater agreement and adequate reliability of the extracted indicators. The integrated meta-synthesis and fuzzy Delphi findings identified five overarching dimensions—individual, occupational, organizational, social, and team-related outcomes—comprising 15 components and 42 indicators. Organizational outcomes received the highest priority, with a defuzzified mean score of 0.721, followed by occupational, team-related, individual, and social outcomes. At the indicator level, reduced organizational cynicism, lower occupational stress, decreased turnover intention, improved hospital performance and patient service delivery, and enhanced employee mental health were among the most strongly endorsed outcomes. Employee well-being is a multidimensional and multilevel construct whose consequences extend beyond individual health to occupational functioning, organizational sustainability, social relationships, and team effectiveness. The resulting framework can support hospital administrators in developing evidence-based human resource policies, allocating resources according to validated priorities, and assessing employee well-being initiatives.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Akram Sahraei Dolatkhane (Author); Mohammad Reza Rabiei Mandjein; Alireza Amirkabiri (Author)
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