Analysis of organizational changes contributing to job satisfaction of registered nurses at St. Mark's Hospital: implications for nursing.

The subject of job satisfaction is an important area of research in Nursing;. Those concerned with the delivery of hospital Nursing; service can benefit from efforts to understand more completely factors underlying nurses' attitudes toward their jobs. The purposes of this study were a) to describe practices that put Nursing; service in a vulnerable position in regards to unionization, b) to compare and contrast the job satisfaction of registered nurses employed at St. Marks Hospital in December 1979, with registered nurses employed in December 1981 and c) to formulate specific recommendation which would provide insight into the efforts necessary for Nursing; service to create good management-employee relations. The data were gathered by use of a job satisfaction questionnaire developed specifically for health care personnel by Slaviatt, Stamps, Piedmont and Haase (1978). The results of the study indicated a positive trend in job satisfaction in registered nurses at St. Mark's Hospital in 1981 as compared to 1979. An overview of the unionization attempt and condition at St. Mark's Hospital in December 1979 and the organizational changes that occurred during the next two years offer insight into those areas registered nurses feel are important to their job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Although generalizations cannot be made, several important Nursing; implications are apparent. They include the relationship of length of employment to job satisfaction, the satisfaction with pay for the ICU/CCU nurses as compared with the general floor nurses and the need for change in the Nursing; care delivery system. Recommendations are also included which offer activities to provide for a more supportive work climate which fosters job satisfaction. This study also offers suggestions for further research in the area of job satisfaction.