Satisfaction with current position
The results of the present study demonstrate that in nursing teams on acute care patient units, a higher level of teamwork and perceptions of higher levels of staffing adequacy leads to greater job satisfaction with current position. Another significant predictor of satisfaction with current position was type of unit: emergency departments were higher. There was significant variation in satisfaction variables found by hospital, which suggests that other variables not examined in the present study may influence the levels of staff satisfaction with their current position. Further research including hospital- and unit-level variables with a larger sample size would need to be completed to demonstrate whether these findings are generalizable or if they are dependent on the particular patient care units studied. None of the other variables are shown to influence satisfaction with current position.
Satisfaction with occupation
Higher levels of teamwork and perceptions of staffing adequacy also lead to greater job satisfaction with occupation. NAs and USs are less satisfied than nurses; men are less satisfied than females; and ICU staff are less satisfied than medical/surgical staff members. The latter finding differs from what has been found in previous studies where intensive care staff are more satisfied at least when the unit culture was considered supportive (Kangas et al. 1999). The greater satisfaction of nurses as opposed to NAs and USs may be accounted for by several factors. First nurses have a higher status and level of power, influence and autonomy than the USs and NAs. This finding is supported by an early and well-known theory in the job design field, the Job Design Theory by Hackman and Oldham (1975). This theory suggests that jobs that involve higher autonomy, task significance, task identity and skill variety results in higher levels of satisfaction. Men may be less satisfied with their occupation because of their minority status within the field. Currently men comprise only 5.8% of the total RN population in the USA (HRSA 2006). Some research suggests that men may identify more with the male-dominated physician profession, thus become dissatisfied with nursing’s lower pay and status (Williams 1995).
The findings of the present study expands our understanding of what contributes to satisfaction of nursing staff working together on inpatient acute care hospital units. Besides a large sample size, the present study utilized a measurement tool designed specifically for inpatient nursing teams and based on a theory of teamwork that explicates specific teamwork behaviours (i.e. shared mental models, trust, backup, team orientation, leadership etc.) that have been found to be characteristic of effective nursing teamwork (Kalisch et al. 2009). The tool also has demonstrated good psychometric properties for a new tool (Kalisch et al. 2010).
Teamwork clearly is an important contributor to satisfaction as are perceptions of staffing adequacy. One limitation of the present study is that the data were collected in only five hospitals thus making it difficult to generalize the findings to the broader population. This is mitigated somewhat by the large sample size (much larger than previous studies on this subject) and by the selection of hospitals of a variety of sizes (120–913). A comparison of the respondents in this study with the RN National Survey showed that this study sample is similar to those data. Another limitation is that teamwork is based on self-report by staff as opposed to actual observations of nursing staff at work.
Satisfaction with current position
The results of the present study demonstrate that in nursing teams on acute care patient units, a higher level of teamwork and perceptions of higher levels of staffing adequacy leads to greater job satisfaction with current position. Another significant predictor of satisfaction with current position was type of unit: emergency departments were higher. There was significant variation in satisfaction variables found by hospital, which suggests that other variables not examined in the present study may influence the levels of staff satisfaction with their current position. Further research including hospital- and unit-level variables with a larger sample size would need to be completed to demonstrate whether these findings are generalizable or if they are dependent on the particular patient care units studied. None of the other variables are shown to influence satisfaction with current position.
Satisfaction with occupation
Higher levels of teamwork and perceptions of staffing adequacy also lead to greater job satisfaction with occupation. NAs and USs are less satisfied than nurses; men are less satisfied than females; and ICU staff are less satisfied than medical/surgical staff members. The latter finding differs from what has been found in previous studies where intensive care staff are more satisfied at least when the unit culture was considered supportive (Kangas et al. 1999). The greater satisfaction of nurses as opposed to NAs and USs may be accounted for by several factors. First nurses have a higher status and level of power, influence and autonomy than the USs and NAs. This finding is supported by an early and well-known theory in the job design field, the Job Design Theory by Hackman and Oldham (1975). This theory suggests that jobs that involve higher autonomy, task significance, task identity and skill variety results in higher levels of satisfaction. Men may be less satisfied with their occupation because of their minority status within the field. Currently men comprise only 5.8% of the total RN population in the USA (HRSA 2006). Some research suggests that men may identify more with the male-dominated physician profession, thus become dissatisfied with nursing’s lower pay and status (Williams 1995).
The findings of the present study expands our understanding of what contributes to satisfaction of nursing staff working together on inpatient acute care hospital units. Besides a large sample size, the present study utilized a measurement tool designed specifically for inpatient nursing teams and based on a theory of teamwork that explicates specific teamwork behaviours (i.e. shared mental models, trust, backup, team orientation, leadership etc.) that have been found to be characteristic of effective nursing teamwork (Kalisch et al. 2009). The tool also has demonstrated good psychometric properties for a new tool (Kalisch et al. 2010).
Teamwork clearly is an important contributor to satisfaction as are perceptions of staffing adequacy. One limitation of the present study is that the data were collected in only five hospitals thus making it difficult to generalize the findings to the broader population. This is mitigated somewhat by the large sample size (much larger than previous studies on this subject) and by the selection of hospitals of a variety of sizes (120–913). A comparison of the respondents in this study with the RN National Survey showed that this study sample is similar to those data. Another limitation is that teamwork is based on self-report by staff as opposed to actual observations of nursing staff at work.
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