Importance of development opportunities and institutional support in nurses' academic satisfaction

Abstract

Objectives: identify the academic satisfaction of clinical nurses and associate the nurses' sociodemographic, educational and professional characteristics with their academic satisfaction. Method: cross-sectional analytic study involving nurses. Two questionnaires were used: Scale of Higher Education Students' Satisfaction with Academic Experience; and a characterization questionnaire. Results: the study sample consisted of 397 nurses. Statistically significant associations between the dimensions Satisfaction with the Course and Development Opportunity and the variables sex (p < 0.00) (p=0.04), education (p=0.04) (p=0.02), type of teaching institution (p=0.01) (p=0.04) and research opportunity (p=0.02) (p < 0.00). Conclusion: the academic satisfaction was moderate. Male nurses who took a Master's program, studied in a public institution and had research opportunities were satisfied with the undergraduate program, course organization, extracurricular activities, relationships with colleagues, teachers' availability and knowledge and with the range of extracurricular activities and course curriculum offered.