Background
Performance appraisal is considered as one of the main tasks of managers
to achieve organizational goals and improve the quality of services. In
this regard, nursing managers, especially first-class nursing managers,
can play an important role in the implementation of performance
appraisal in hospitals (1). Performance appraisal in nursing refers to
an assessment of the nurses’ efficiency and skills as well as the
effectiveness of the nursing process and the activities performed by the
nurses while providing care for the clients (2).
Organizational researchers have proposed fair performance appraisal in
the form of organizational justice. Organizational justice refers to the
employees’ perception of the fairness of the organizational procedures
and consequences (3). In other words, employees consider an activity
fair if only they have a reasonable perception of that activity (4).
Therefore, justice perception of performance appraisal is a very
important issue in organizations (5), which means that the individuals
or groups perceive justice regarding the procedures and consequences of
performance appraisal (3,6). On the other hand, the World Health
Organization (WHO) has identified justice as one of the main goals of
the healthcare system (7). The pioneering research on justice in
organizations dates back to the early 1960s. However, a new chapter
began in empirical studies about organizational justice after 1990 and
then Greenberg proposed a four-factor model of justice for performance
appraisal including1) the distributive justice which refers to justice
in the consequences of performance appraisal;2) the procedural justice
which is related to individuals’ perceptions of the standards used in
methods and processes of performance appraisal;3) the interpersonal
justice which refers to the perception of the clients of the executives
or supervisors’ behavior; and 4) the informational justice which means
that all information related to the decisions and evaluation processes
should be available to the evaluators (8,9).
Employees’ perception of justice in performance appraisal will have a
significant effect on the acceptance of the assessment scores,
satisfaction with the appraisal process, and organizational commitment.
If an organization indicates that justice has been observed in
performance appraisal, it will lead to an increase in employees’
motivation and productivity. Fair performance appraisal can motivate the
employees to strive to revise and improve their performance and to
develop the belief that their performance is perceived and appreciated
by the organization (3).
Rakhshany Zabol et al. conducted a study on 298 nurses and concluded
that there is a direct relationship between distributive and
interpersonal justice and stay in the nursing profession (10). Besides,
the results of Mohamed’s study showed that a high perception of
procedural justice is associated with high quality of nurses’
performance (11). Cao et al. also reported that the nurses’ perception
of justice is a result of fair organizational behaviors which leads to
an increase in occupational commitment among nurses as well as an
increase in the quality of healthcare delivery (12). In other words, if
nurses’ perception of performance appraisal is unfair, it may be a
potential source of job dissatisfaction and will consequently result in
a lack of professional commitment, violent behavior, and leaving the job
(13,14). Also, the justice perception of performance appraisal and its
consequences affect the effectiveness costs (15). Therefore, it is
necessary to measure the justice perception of performance appraisal
through a valid scale.
In this regard, Thurston developed a framework to measure the justice
perception of performance appraisal and then conducted a psychometric
analysis respectively (8). This self-report scale is claimed to have
high validity and reliability and, based on Greenberg’s proposed model,
is specifically designed to monitor the organizational justice of
appraisal (16). This instrument has been used for the administrative
employees of governmental and non-governmental organizations (3,8).
Given the importance of the results of performance appraisal on nurses’
professional development, the quality of patient care, and the
development of healthcare organizations, it is necessary to use a valid
instrument to measure nurses’ perception of justice in performance
appraisal.
Assessing the justice perception of performance appraisal using a
reliable and valid instrument allows nursing managers to understand the
reasons for nurses’ dissatisfaction with the performance appraisal
system. It also helps them use reliable and fair methods to conduct the
appraisal, ask competent people to evaluate nurses’ performance and
provide accurate information about nurses’ job requirements as well as
the expectations of the healthcare system before assessment. Moreover,
justice is not just limited to a specific time and the continuity of the
assessment of justice is very important. The previous review studies
have not reported sufficient and relevant evidence about the
psychometric properties of the perception of justice in performance
appraisal in Iran. Therefore, the present study aimed at conducting
psychometric analysis on the nurses’ perception of justice in
performance appraisal.