¶ … Christopher Montgomery Figueroa, ID #203594 Master of Science, Nursing Leadership & Management

Western Governor's University

A review of the research literature reveals that, though it is replete with studies related to nursing job satisfaction, there is a distinct lack of research applied to job satisfaction within the emergency department, and particularly within those settings in American hospitals. In this research study, the expressed job satisfaction and morale of nurses working in emergency departments will be studied using a survey and short questionnaire. The nurses' perceptions about patient care variables, workload, communication among staff, hazardous work conditions, patient attributes, and hospital leadership and administration will be explored. The study participants will be actively employed as emergency department staff nurses in American hospitals. The significance of various contextual variables specific to emergency department nursing care in relation to the morale and job satisfaction of the nursing staff is to be discussed and quantified.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

Chapter 1: Introduction 7

Research Problem 8

Chapter 2: Literature Review 10

Search Strategy and Results 11

Nursing Staff Morale Literature 12

The Nature of Emergency Room Nursing Care. 12

Shortages of physician specialists. 17

Crowding in Emergency Rooms. 18

Research in Other Specialty Nursing Areas. 19

Physical and Emotional Risks of Emergency Nursing. 21

Absenteeism and Job Satisfaction 22

Hospital Climate and Job Satisfaction. 22

Discussion of Research 24

Limitations of Current Research on this Topic 25

Suggestions for Further Research 26

Conclusion...

31
Participants 32

Sampling Procedures 32

Researcher Role, Bias, Audience, and Limitations 33

Data Collection Methods 34

Data Collected 34

Section 1: Demographic information. 34

Section 2: Job satisfaction and morale. 34

Section 3: Interview questions. 35

Research Procedures 35

Research Data Analysis 37

Quantitative Analysis Techniques 37

Qualitative Analysis Techniques 38

Rationale 39

Interpretation of Data 40

Conclusion 42

References 44

Chapter 1: Introduction To the Problem

Job-related stress is a substantive variable in the overall personnel costs of an industry. In the literature, the relationship between job stress and the costs associated with increased rates of attrition, the provision of mental health supports, and expanded health care programs is well established. When employees experience job-related stress, companies must invariably allocate and spend resources in mitigation efforts. Concerns about job-stress in medical and healthcare workers extend beyond fiscal concerns to broader issues related to patient care. The literature on patient care indicates that the quality of care provided by overly stressed medical and healthcare personnel may differ in substantive ways than the quality of care provided in similar environments in which workers report experiencing less job-related stress (Roche & Duffield, 2010).

Two distinct fields of inquiry are emerging with respect to the study of job-related stress in medical and…