Job satisfaction of Saudi nurses working in Saudi Arabian public hospitals

Abstract

For decades, Saudi Arabia has relied exclusively on expatriate nurses to service its hospitals. Due to the global shortage of nurses, Saudi Arabia is now facing difficulties recruiting and retaining an expatriate nursing workforce. Using Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory as a theoretical framework, paired with a descriptive, explorative mixed-method design, this study identified the factors that most affected the job satisfaction levels of Saudi national nurses working in three main public hospitals of the Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted in two phases: in the first phase, 272 nurses were surveyed to identify what factors they believed lead to job satisfaction. The second phase consisted of face-to-face interviews with 17 Saudi nurses and sought to identify in greater depth the factors they perceived were most important to providing them with positive feelings and job satisfaction. Hopefully, these findings will provide insights that may influence recruiting and retaining Saudi nationals to study nursing, subsequently alleviating the shortage and bringing stability to the Saudi nursing workforce.