ABSTRACT

The level of organizational learning in hospitals has a significant difference with regard to their type of ownership. The level of learning can be improved with the help of staff empowerment initiatives taken toward attaining common goals, creating equal opportunities for continuous learning for all personnel, and an appropriate relationship of the organization with the surrounding environment.

The average score of learning variable was 2.77±0.64 for teaching hospitals, 2.57±0.77 for Social Security hospitals, and 3.21±0.94 for private hospitals. Learning variables variances were different in these three types of ownership (p < 0.001). Moreover, significant differences were found between learning aspects of individual learning (p < 0.001), group learning (p = 0.007), and organizational learning (p = 0.002). The study was based on the type of hospital ownership.

This cross-sectional study was conducted using an analyticaldescriptive approach in 2016. The research community members included 2,162 employees of the nominated hospitals in Lorestan province. The sample consisted of 339 people, who were selected using Cochran’s formula with 95% reliability factor. The data collection tools used were the Persian edition of Watkins and Marsick’s standard questionnaire (2003). The collected data was analyzed by SPSS 20 software using statistical tests (i.e. Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, t-test, and ANOVA), and p ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.

Learning new skills tremendously increases the self-confidence of employees and helps them attain their organizational targets. This study was done to compare the levels of organizational learning in hospitals with regard to ownership type.