Exploring the nature of job satisfaction in registered nurses

Job satisfaction impacts nurses' performance and retention in their hospital practice. A global nursing shortage has increased the need to improve understanding of the factors that impact job satisfaction in the hospital registered nurse. The emerging workforce of newer nurses may perceive the work environment differently from veteran nurses with regard to the development of job satisfaction. This grounded theory study explored the perceptions of registered nurses working in 9 area hospitals in a city in the southern US. A networked sample of 17 nurse informants, 9 newer nurses and 8 veteran nurses, contributed data collected from semi-structured interviews. Using constant comparative analysis the process model, Finding a Good Fit, was identified.

Finding a Good Fit describes the quest of nurses to achieve Making a Commitment they can maintain, Meeting the Challenge of nursing, and Achieving Validation in their career experiences, all the while seeking the “fit” that works for them. Not a linear model, Finding a Good Fit represents a dynamic and changing process that mirrors the nurses' changing lives and needs as well as the many changes in the health care setting. Implications for both recruitment and retention focus on finding common ground between the nurses of the emerging workforce and veteran nurses in hospital practice.