The present study has a high degree of methodological soundness than similar studies done previously. A stringent purposive sampling method was employed in this study to select the study samples. In the present study only those nurses were included who have been working these two institutes (CIP and RIMS, Ranchi), uninterrupted, for five years or more. Previous studies have taken samples without considering the duration of service and have used ‘convenient sampling’ while selecting samples (Fagin et al. 1996; Kipping 2000). ‘Length of service’ is an important factor for both job satisfaction and burnout because in most cases burnout and dissatisfaction appear among the more experienced workers compared to newer workers. These two groups were comparable to each other as no significant difference could be found between them with regards to age, education, domicile, marital status, native state, mother tongue and some occupation related parameters (for example, travelling time from place of residence to hospital, number of problems with staff in the last one year, etc.).