Job Satisfaction and Nurses

Abstract

The research reported in this article was conducted among nurses in a teaching hospital in Perth, Western Australia. The study looked at the perceived influence of different items on the job satisfaction of nurses. It was discovered that intrinsic motivators were the major motivators for the respondents, with salary ranking tenth in a list of twelve items. The study also supported earlier findings by other researchers that job satisfaction is multidimensional with the finding of three factors underlying the data. Therefore, the growing modern approach of designing compensation packages by considering the total job rather than some of the parts of the job such as the traditional areas of pay and working conditions. This means that the human resource manager has a more difficult problem in having to design a compensation package which the individual will find motivating rather than the traditional method of adjusting the pay or working conditions. It is suggested firstly, that a company wide survey be conducted periodically, at least once every two years, to measure the workforce′s view of the motivators used by the organisation. Secondly, a conjoint analysis on the desired compensation packages of the members of the workforce could be carried out. Finally, the research identifies the need to continue training for nurses because of the need for them to remain an integral part of medical teams.

Citation

Savery, L.K. (1989), "Job Satisfaction and Nurses", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 4 No. 5, pp. 11-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000001727