Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul;30(13-14):2093-2106.
doi: 10.1111/jocn.15767. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Illegitimate tasks in health care: Illegitimate task types and associations with occupational well-being

Kiia Kilponen  1 , Mari Huhtala  1 , Ulla Kinnunen  2 , Saija Mauno  1   2 , Taru Feldt  1
Affiliations

Illegitimate tasks in health care: Illegitimate task types and associations with occupational well-being

Kiia Kilponen et al. J Clin Nurs. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Aims and objectives: The aims of the study were to identify content categories of unreasonable and unnecessary illegitimate tasks and to investigate how unreasonable and unnecessary tasks relate to occupational wellbeing.

Background: Illegitimate tasks are a common stressor among healthcare professionals, and they have been shown to have negative associations with occupational well-being. Despite this evidence, research has not yet uncovered what kinds of tasks healthcare professionals consider illegitimate.

Design and method: The data gathered by means of an online survey consisted of 1024 municipal healthcare organisation employees. A theory-driven qualitative content analysis was used to analyse freely reported illegitimate tasks. For occupational well-being associations, a mixed-methods approach was used (ANCOVA and linear regression analysis). The STROBE statement-checklist for cross-sectional studies was used.

Results: Eight content categories were found for illegitimate tasks. For unreasonable tasks, these were (1) tasks outside one's occupational role (78% of all unreasonable tasks), (2) conflicting or unclear demands (9%), (3) tasks with insufficient resources (8%) and (4) tasks with difficult consequences (5%), and for unnecessary tasks, these were (1) impractical or outdated working habits (31% of all unnecessary tasks), (2) tasks related to dysfunctional technology (30%), (3) unnecessary procedures (27%) and (4) tasks related to bureaucratic demands (12%). Unreasonable and unnecessary tasks were associated with higher levels of burnout and lower work engagement and the meaningfulness of work.

Conclusions: Our findings support the theory that illegitimate tasks are an occupational stressor with negative effects on burnout, work engagement and meaningfulness of work.

Relevance to clinical practice: The study offers insights into the types of tasks health care employees see as illegitimate and highlights the importance of good job design in promoting occupational well-being in health care.

Keywords: burnout; illegitimate tasks; meaningfulness of work; nurses; work engagement.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Allan, B. A., Batz-Barbarich, C., Sterling, H. M., & Tay, L. Outcomes of Meaningful Work: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Management Studies, 56(3), 500-528.
    1. Anskär, E., Lindberg, M., Falk, M., & Andersson, A. (2019). Legitimacy of work tasks, psychosocial work environment, and time utilization among primary care staff in Sweden. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 37(4), 467-483.
    1. Bakker, A., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands-Resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309-328.
    1. Bakker, A., Schaufeli, W., Leiter, M., & Taris, T. (2008). Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology. Work & Stress, 22(3), 187-200.
    1. Björk, L., Bejerot, E., Jacobshagen, N., & Härenstam, A. (2013). I shouldn't have to do this: Illegitimate tasks as a stressor in relation to organizational control and resource deficits. Work & Stress, 27(3), 262-277.

LinkOut - more resources