Results of this study demonstrated that the impact of hospital restructuring had a direct effect on job satisfaction, which in turn then had a pointedly negative impact on absenteeism and on job insecurity. In addition, the study found that the more the nurses believed hospital restructuring had lowered the quality of health care and had had a negative impact on working conditions, the less likely they were to experience job satisfaction and the more apt to report feelings of job insecurity. Findings further demonstrated that job satisfaction functioned as a intermediary between the impact of restructuring and job insecurity: That is, lower job satisfaction resulting from a greater impact of restructuring led to decreased job security. The impact of restructuring also placed an indirect effect on absenteeism through job satisfaction. The lower the job satisfaction, resulting from restructuring, the more likely the nurses were to be miss work. .

             These results were similar to prior studies that linked layoffs with an increased amount of job insecurity. Campbell-Jamieson, Worrall, & Cooper (2001), for instance, compared responses from managers in three different business settings: organizations that restructured and downsized in the previous year, those firms that restructured without downsizing, and companies that had not restructured. Managers in organizations that had downsized had less job security, lower organizational commitment and reduced morale. Research has also demonstrated that reorganization can lead to greater emotional turmoil, including such feelings as anger, anxiety, cynicism and resentment (O'Neill & Lenn, 1995). Burke & Nelson (1997) found that this is most likely the result of a variety of negative observations throughout the restructuring, such as the belief that workers were treated unfairly, the psychological contract was eroded, and future employment would be insecure.