Job satisfaction: a survey of nurses in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

To determine the current level of job satisfaction among nurses in the Republic of Ireland. To identify the factors that make the greatest contribution to nurses' current level of job satisfaction. To establish the difference between (a) the factors that nurses regard as being important to their job satisfaction, and (b) those factors that actually contribute to nurses' current level of job satisfaction. To enter the findings into a database maintained by Market Street Research in the USA. A review of the literature suggests that (a) job satisfaction among nurses is low, and (b) job satisfaction research in nursing is growing. This paper represents the descriptive findings of a study that used a mixed-method design. Data collection involved the use of a postal questionnaire survey and the sample was selected using stratified random sampling. The findings confirmed low to moderate levels of job satisfaction among nurses. Factors such as professional status, interaction and autonomy made the greatest contribution to nurses' job satisfaction. Overall, the findings are consistent with those of previous research on nurses' job satisfaction. The implications are that health service administrators and nursing managers need to design and implement initiatives that will promote professional status, interaction and autonomy among nurses within their organizations and address the reasons why task requirements, organizational policies and pay make less of a contribution to the current level of job satisfaction.