Date of Award

2015

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Marlene Dufault

Abstract

A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted to examine the relationship between staff nurses' self-perceptions of structural empowerment, self-perceptions of Magnet hospital characteristics and job satisfaction in a Magnet-designated community hospital in the Northeastern United States. Demographic variables of age, ethnicity, educational level, marital status and years of experience were also examined to determine the extent to which these variables can predict nurses' job satisfaction in a sample of 97 registered staff nurses. Simple linear regression analysis was used to answer the two research questions: What is the relationship between nurses' perception of structural empowerment level and job satisfaction? What is the relationship between nurses' perception of Magnet hospital characteristics and job satisfaction? Multiple regression analysis was used to answer the third research question: To what extent and in what manner are nurses' perceptions of structural empowerment level, Magnet hospital characteristics and demographic characteristics (age, education level, marital status, years of experience, and ethnicity) related to job satisfaction? Three null hypotheses were rejected. Two of the seven predictive variables were statistically significant at the .05 level. The most significant predictor was Magnet hospital characteristics (p=.000) and followed by structural empowerment (p=.003). Magnet characteristics (β=0.552, p < .005) and structural empowerment (β=0.347p=.003) predicted overall nurses' job satisfaction at R2 = 0.674, F (2, 96) = 69.157, p < .005 level of significance. The adjusted R square value of 0.674 indicates that about 67.4% of the variation in predicting overall nurses' job satisfaction score can be associated with these two variables. Findings of this study may increase our understanding of the strength of the association of staff nurses perceptions of structural empowerment and Magnet characteristics on job satisfaction. Results suggest that staff nurses job satisfaction may be increased by providing the access to structural empowerment and Magnet hospital characteristics (Nursing participation, nursing foundation for care, management ability, adequate staff and collaborative relationship).

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