Abstract

Historically, critical care nurses were more frequently identified with burnout, decreased job satisfaction and high levels of turnover. For this reason there have been several documented studies carried out to improve job satisfaction and turnover rates in critical care areas. Presently, due to the impact of managed care, patients coming to the hospital are sicker and requiring higher levels of care in medical-surgical areas. This is a major concern on medical-surgical units, where the patient to nurse ratio can be as high as eight to one. A survey of 154 critical care and medical-surgical nurses from two hospitals were surveyed quality of care, enjoyment, time to do one's job and task requirement. An independent t test was performed on each variable. No significant difference was found in the level of job satisfaction between the medical-surgical nurses and the critical care nurses.

Author Details

Cynthia Ward, MS, RNC, CMSRN; Sarah Shultz, RN, BSN, CCRN

Sigma Membership

Epsilon Psi, Xi Upsilon

Lead Author Affiliation

Carilion Clinic, Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Roanoke, Virginia, USA

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quasi-Experimental Study, Other

Research Approach

Quantitative Research

Keywords:

Critical Care, Medical-Surgical, Enjoyment of Job, Job Satisfaction

Conference Name

Blue Ridge Chapter Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses

Conference Host

Blue Ridge Chapter Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses

Conference Location

Lynchburg, Virginia, USA

Conference Year

2006

Rights Holder

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Review Type

Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host

Acquisition

Self-submission

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Comparison of the job satisfaction of experienced medical-surgical and experienced critical care nurses

Lynchburg, Virginia, USA

Historically, critical care nurses were more frequently identified with burnout, decreased job satisfaction and high levels of turnover. For this reason there have been several documented studies carried out to improve job satisfaction and turnover rates in critical care areas. Presently, due to the impact of managed care, patients coming to the hospital are sicker and requiring higher levels of care in medical-surgical areas. This is a major concern on medical-surgical units, where the patient to nurse ratio can be as high as eight to one. A survey of 154 critical care and medical-surgical nurses from two hospitals were surveyed quality of care, enjoyment, time to do one's job and task requirement. An independent t test was performed on each variable. No significant difference was found in the level of job satisfaction between the medical-surgical nurses and the critical care nurses.