Does Motivating Nurses Lead to Higher Levels of Job Satisfaction - Literature review Example

Job satisfaction is the level to which an employee of an organization is content with their position and enjoys their role (Armstrong 2006.) Satisfaction on the job is of considerable interest in the health services industry. Job satisfaction has a direct correlation with improved job productivity and also predicts lower employee turnover rates and reduction of absenteeism (Cohen and Golan 2007). However, there is a gap in the research literature as to whether motivating nurses improves job satisfaction.

There could potentially be mitigating circumstances of a nursing position or the specific health services environment where a nurse is employed that improves job satisfaction without necessarily considering motivation. For example, Craven, Hirnle, and Jensen (2013) assert that nurses require meaningful social relationships and affection in order to experience higher levels of job satisfaction. Favorable feelings about one’s job encompass the essence of job satisfaction (Robbins 2005). In an environment where nursing supervisors must develop appropriate strategies to improve job satisfaction, learning whether motivational strategies are sufficient enough is of considerable concern in an effort to create new best practice leadership strategies to boost performance and productivity of nurses.

If motivation is inadequate for improving nurses’ job satisfaction, then nursing supervisors can determine other, more valuable strategies to create a rewarding and productive work environment for diverse nursing professionals.