Nurses’ Job Satisfaction and Motivation: Patients’ and Nurses’ Perceptions

Abstract

Background: High quality care is the main concern of healthcare administrators and it was found to be related to nurses’ job satisfaction and motivation. Purpose: The study aimed to compare patients’ and nurses’ perceptions of nurses’ job satisfaction and motivation. Method: In this cross-sectional study the participants were 315 released patients and 329 nurses from eight hospitals in northern Israel. The participants completed three questionnaires: demographics, nursing job satisfaction, and nursing job motivation. Results: Nurses perceived both job satisfaction and motivation higher than the patients. Duration of hospitalization and being accompanied by family, were positively correlated to patients’ perceptions of these variables. Conclusion/Implications for Practice: To optimize care quality, it is important to assess both patients’ and nurses’ perceptions of nurses’ job satisfaction and motivation. Such an assessment may shed light on the nursing experience and on the way that it is reflected in the patients’ experience. A system-wide process is needed to set a national standard for service quality while emphasizing strategies that promote recognition of nurses’ work, for example, compliments and acknowledgment. This could enhance nurses’ sense of work engagement, which, in turn, may increase the patients’ perception of nurses’ job satisfaction and motivation.