Survey Of 76,000 Nurses Probes Elements Of Job Satisfaction
Apr 6, 2005 - 4:56:00 PM, Reviewed by: Dr.
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In largest report of its kind, nurses say they enjoy interactions with peers the most, decision-making, tasks and pay the least
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By American Nurses Association,
In one of the largest samples of its kind exploring various components of job satisfaction among registered nurses (RNs), conducted through an American Nurses Association (ANA) survey, respondents as a total group report being highly satisfied with regard to interactions with other RNs, their professional status, and professional development opportunities.
The RN Satisfaction Report, conducted through ANA's National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI), revealed moderate levels of satisfaction regarding all other aspects of respondents' jobs, including nursing management, nursing administration, interactions with doctors, and their own level of autonomy. RNs as a total group reported the lowest satisfaction with decision-making, tasks and pay. And in some unit categories - including emergency departments, peri-operative services, and critical care - RNs reported low satisfaction with pay.
Levels of job satisfaction for each category varied, depending on the type of unit in which the nurses worked. For example, maternal-newborn and pediatric RNs reported the highest levels of overall job enjoyment, whereas their counterparts working in medical-surgical, step-down and emergency room departments reported the lowest.
The RN Satisfaction Report was based on input from 76,000 RNs from hospitals across the country. The survey was divided into several sections using adaptations of established indexes of work satisfaction and job enjoyment scales.
In addition to measuring job satisfaction, the report contained data regarding quality of care and the management staffing practices of having nurses work extra and "floating" nurses to other units outside their areas of expertise. Also collected was information regarding nurses' job plans for next year.
In the category of nursing quality of care, participants in general rated the quality of care provided on their unit as "good" to "excellent." Nurses working in critical care, maternal-newborn, pediatric and peri-operative service departments felt they provided the highest quality of care.
Meantime, 82 percent of RNs reported working extra, with most respondents indicating that working extra had increased on their unit during the past year. The highest increases in working extra were reported in peri-operative services, emergency rooms and maternal newborn departments. In addition, 26 percent of nurses reported being "floated" to hospital units within the past two weeks.
The findings of the ANA study may be useful in developing strategies that help retain RNs. Retention strategies are key to stemming the growing shortage of nurses in the United States. A report released in July 2002 by the federal Bureau of Health Professions indicates that if the nursing shortage goes unchecked, the demand for RNs is expected to grow to 2.8 million by 2020 from two million in 2000 (resulting in a 29 percent shortage, up from 6 percent in 2000). According to a Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service survey conducted in 2003, the turnover rate for RNs is 14.6 percent.
Although the ANA report does not measure actual turnover, RNs did report job plans for next year. Seventy-nine percent of all RNs reported they intend to remain on the same unit, while 8 percent reported they intend to leave direct patient care or nursing entirely. Only 69 percent of RNs on step-down units and 72 percent of RNs on medical-surgical units intend to remain in the same job next year. 
- RN Satisfaction Report, conducted through ANA's National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI)
Details regarding the NDNQI data collection process and the RN Satisfaction survey
The RN Satisfaction Report is offered to NDNQI member hospitals primarily through a Web-based response mechanism. The average unit response rate was 64 percent. Participants included RNs in 5,188 nursing units in 206 hospitals located in 44 states. Hospitals ranged in size from less than 100 beds to greater than 500 beds and included non-teaching, teaching and academic medical centers. Forty-three percent of hospitals participating in the RN Satisfaction Report have been designated as Magnet� facilities by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
The Magnet Recognition Program� was developed to recognize health care organizations that provide the very best in nursing care and uphold the tradition of professional nursing practice. The program also provides a vehicle for disseminating successful practices and strategies among nursing systems. Magnet status is determined based on quality indicators and standards of nursing practice as defined in the ANA's Scope and Standards for Nurse Administrators (2003).
ANA's NDNQI, a repository for nursing-sensitive indicators, is a program of ANA's National Center of Nursing Quality (NCNQ). NCNQ is the overarching entity that includes a number of projects focused on patient safety, nursing care quality, nurse safety and quality of work life, and the factors that affect these areas. NDNQI is the only national database of nursing-quality indicators containing data collected at the nursing-unit level. In addition to RN satisfaction, other nursing-sensitive indicators being collected for analysis by the NDNQI database include patient falls, patient bedsores, nursing hours per patient day, staff mix, unit type and number of staffed beds. Currently, more than 700 hospitals, located in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, participate in NDNQI, which, through contract, is housed at the University of Kansas Medical Center School of Nursing.
For details regarding the NDNQI data collection process and the RN Satisfaction survey, see http://www.nursingworld.org/quality or http://www.nursingquality.org/rnsurveyinfo/. For the survey questions, see http://www.nursingquality.org/rnsurveyinfo/instrument.htm. For more information regarding ANCC's Magnet� Recognition Program, see http://www.nursingworld.org/ancc/magnet.html.
The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses (RNs) through its 54 constituent member associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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