Job Satisfaction, Work Environment, Job Stress, and Professional Identity among Psychiatric Nurses

Job satisfaction is one of the most complex issues in the healthcare industry in regard to employees. To boost employees' productivity and job satisfaction, nurse leaders must satisfy their employees' needs by providing the right working conditions, reducing job stress, and promoting professional identity development. This quantitative, cross-sectional correlational study guided by Herzberg et al.s two-factor theory investigated the relationship among work environment, job stress, professional identity, and job satisfaction among 105 registered nurses working in inpatient psychiatric hospitals in the United States. It was determined that the moderating effect of demographic factor (years of experience) on the extent to which work environment, job stress, and professional identity account for the variance of job satisfaction. A convenience sampling method was used to obtain the participants who completed four Internet-based surveys that measured the study variables. Data from the surveys were analyzed using multiple linear regression. Results indicated that the work environment, professional identity, and job stress had a significant joint predictive influence on job satisfaction, but only the work environment emerged as a significant positive independent predictor of job satisfaction. Years of experience did not significantly moderate the relationship between the predictor and outcome variables. It is important that hospitals develop policies to ensure a positive work environment for RNs to promote their job satisfaction and increase retention. A positive work environment for RNs in an inpatient psychiatric hospital will potentially increase nurses' retention rates, job satisfaction, and patient outcomes and decrease turnover costs.