Factors influencing critical care nurses' perception of their overall job satisfaction: an empirical study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the factors influencing critical care nurses' perception of their overall job satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Nurses' job satisfaction is a key issue to consider in the retention of critical care nurses. Shortages of nurses result in unsafe patient care, increased expense, and increased stress levels among other nurses.

METHOD: The Leadership Practices Inventory was used among a sample of critical care nurses to measure perceived leadership practices, the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire measured nurses commitment, and the Job in General scale was used to measure nurses' overall job satisfaction. Four different hypotheses were tested using bivariate and multivariate statistical analytical techniques.

RESULTS: Statistically significant relationships were found among the following hypotheses: (a) perceived leadership and job satisfaction; (b) organizational commitment and job satisfaction; and (c) perceived leadership practices, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. No significant relationships were found among critical care nurses' demographic variables and job satisfaction. Organizational commitment was the strongest predictor of job satisfaction. Encourage the heart (B = 0.116, P = .035) and organizational commitment (B = 0.353, P = .000) were found to be significantly associated with job satisfaction.

CONCLUSION: These findings have implications for nurse educators, preceptors, administrators, recruiters, and managers in promoting satisfaction.