Health Workforce: Strategies for Improving Nurse Job Satisfaction

This report addresses the critical issue of decreasing job satisfaction among nurses and its impact on patient care and productivity. It highlights factors contributing to dissatisfaction, such as heavy workloads, burnout, and lack of recognition. The report explores potential solutions, including improved human resource management practices, job enrichment, and incentive structures. Recommendations include establishing a commission to assess nurse-patient ratios, gathering patient feedback, and providing psychological support to nurses. The report also discusses the importance of communication and stakeholder involvement in implementing these strategies to achieve measurable improvements in nurse job satisfaction and patient care standards. Desklib provides this document for informational purposes, offering students access to a wide array of study tools.

Running head: HEALTH WORKFORCE
HEALTH WORKFORCE
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1HEALTH WORKFORCE
Job satisfaction among the nurses
Issues Brief
PREPARED FOR:
REQUESTED BY:
PREPARED BY:
DATE:
Issue Statement
The issue is the decreasing job satisfaction of the nurses that is impacting the patients’
care leading to a loss of productivity. Hence, this paper would depict the strategies the can be
used for increasing the job satisfaction among the nurses.
Background and Discussion
The current shortage of the nurses and high turnover of the nurses in many countries can
be an important reason for the decreasing job satisfaction among the nurses. There are different
dimensions that can affect the satisfaction level of the nurses. It has been reported that that the
satisfaction levels of the nurses are influenced by the income of the nurses, the work relations
with the peers, motivation in working, marital status, opportunity status for the growth of the
students as well as the social relations (Zin, et al., 2016). Hoboubi et al., (2016) has confirmed

2HEALTH WORKFORCE
that the in half of the cases the nurses are dissatisfied with their job due to the non-recognition of
their contribution and work conditions that are unsatisfactory.
Extended working hours, excessive workload due to the shortage of the staffs and
prolonged stay in a clinical setting and encountering critical cases might decrease the job
satisfaction among the nurses. The recruitment and the retention of the nurses are present
problems that are associated with job satisfaction. Khamisa, Peltzer and Oldenburg, (2013), has
confirmed that burnout among the nurses is frequent n the mental health departments as those
departments are identifies as difficult working areas, leading to fluctuating job satisfactions. Lu,
Zhao and While, (2019), has argued that while the job demands can decrease the satisfaction, the
resources can reduce it too.
Job satisfaction for the nurses is important for the health care sectors, but can also pose a
critical challenge for the health care organisations due to the increased labour costs and huge
deficit of the nurses (Khamisa, Peltzer & Oldenburg, 2013). Decreased job satisfaction among
the nurses can affect patient care by increasing the medical errors, excessive crowding in the
emergency departments, leading to repeated hospital admissions, prolonged hospital stay and
loss of productivity of the clinical setting (Lu, Zhao & While, 2019). The patients and their
families are mostly impacted by this issue.
In order to address the issue of job satisfaction among the nurses and to increase the
demand of the nurses, Singapore health department have been establishing plans to increase the
opportunity for the nurses. According to these plans, the nurses will be able make full use of
their skills in the coming years, following the Ministry of health decision to the review the rules
governing their roles. As stated by the Ministry of health services, the nurse will be able to

3HEALTH WORKFORCE
practice at the top of their licenses and it will also maximise the potential and the contribution
the health care workforce. The department has also decided to form a commission for recruiting
new nurses in the health care settings.
There are certain barriers to increase the job satisfaction among the nurses. Nurses
working in the psychiatric departments may encounter violence, trauma and disruptive behaviour
of clients. This might lead to posttraumatic disorder among the nurses. These personal and
specific factors might not be addressed by the organisation and here lies the duty of the nurses to
develop mindfulness and resilience (Lu, Zhao & While, 2019). Another barriers is the funding of
the health care organisation. Proper incentive structures might not be introduced due to the poor
funding of the health care organisation.
If suitable strategies are not adopted to increase the job satisfaction among the nurses,
then the patient turnover will increase. The hospital organisation depends directly depends on the
clients and when the patents are not treated with the best quality of care, it will automatically
decrease the patient ration in the hospital. A study conducted by Naz, Hashmi & Asif (2016),
have revealed that job satisfaction increases the staff retention within the organisation. A
significant association has been found between nurse’s job satisfaction and medication errors.
Medication errors by the demotivated nurses can even cause mortality of morbidity in the
patient.
Options and/or Recommendations
Management of the human resources can also play a substantial role in order to increase
the performance of the employee. Yom (2013), have found that the nurse managers who employ

4HEALTH WORKFORCE
job rotation and the internal marketing practices have realised an enhanced job satisfaction and
more retention among their subordinate nurses.
Nurses with higher standards of autonomy has better job satisfaction. Autonomy is
important in health care as care has become technologized and bureaucratised. It has been found
that autonomy along with the supervisory support enhances the organisational trust and
organisational trust that reduces the turnover intention. A positive leader –member exchange and
establishment of a climate of diversity poses a positive effect on the job satisfaction. The
frequency of the communication had long been affected the job satisfaction the in the low client
leader leadership. Again job enrichment, recognition and the quality management and the career
opportunities also helps in employee retention. Special incentive structure has to be made in
order to appraise the nurses. Zhu, Rodgers & Melia (2014), has asserted that availability of the
career prospects within an organisation reduces desires in the employees to leave the
organisation. The patient to nurse ratio should meet the standard in order to disseminate the
workload. Development of the strategies would increase the productivity of the hospital which
will obviously add up to their profit. Regarding the political implications of the interventions,
recruitment plans made can be influenced by the ruling political party (Lu et al., 2012). Liaising
or lobbing with the political members can arrange for the funding or the subsidies for the nurses.
The Ministry would decide on the job prospects of the nurses and would plan to amend the
policies (Elgie, 2017).
The proposed approach for addressing the recommendations is to develop commission to
find out the current nurse-patient ratio. Feedbacks should be taken from the patients in order to
understand the unmet needs of the patients and the type of care that the nurses are providing. The
committee would also help to find out the number of nurses required in the organisation and the

5HEALTH WORKFORCE
competency standard on the basis of which they will be chosen (Proctor, 2017). Furthermore, the
funding has to be reviewed in order to make room for the incentives of the nurses. Furthermore,
the Human resource manager, being a part of the team can provide psychological support to the
nurses and help them to deal with excess workload (Khamisa, Peltzer & Oldenburg, 2013).
Teams having high levels of organisational tenure diversity serving under the transformational
leaders has demonstrated greater commitment in the organisation, engaging in the creative
behaviour and have higher job satisfaction.
The proposed recommendation would increase the satisfaction in the nurses, would
motivate them to accomplish their services by feeling them valued and by giving recognition to
their services. Recruitment of competent nurses would help to distribute the task among the
nurses that would the decrease the workload from the senior nurses (Chung & Kowalski, 2012).
Eventually, proper shifting hours would allow the nurses to manage time for self-care or to spend
time with their families.
Some of the risk factors associated to the recruitment of the new workforces can be lack
of proper training. Again, provision of trainings to the newly recruited nurses might have some
financial implication on the clinical settings. Political implications involve, lobbying with the
politicians to bring this issue under the government’s notice and negotiating about the funds.
Implementation
The solution will be implemented by setting up proper achievable and the measurable
goals for the implementation of the actions. It is necessary for the involvement of the different
stakeholders such as the administrative head of the organisation, managers and the nurse staffs.

6HEALTH WORKFORCE
The nurse staffs should be communicated about the goals and the way they will be implemented.
Specific time frames should be set between which the task will be accomplished (Chung &
Kowalski, 2012). The initiative should be processed within a month. Thorough consultation has
to be made within the stakeholders, to chalk out the plan.
The success of the plan will be evaluated by tallying the current nursing care standard
after the implementation of the interventions to the previous data. Effectiveness of the
interventions will be evidenced by less medication error, high job satisfaction of the nurses and
high standard of care. Feedback can be taken from the patients such that they can escalate any
issues related to the available nursing service.
Communication
A communication plan is needed to inform the stakeholders and the nursing staffs about the
change.
 Setting up bulletin boards
 Newsletter informing about the change
 Social networking sites can be used
Media and online forums can be helpful to raise this topic and inform the other organisation
about the guideline of nurse satisfaction. The target audience are the health care workforces,
especially the nurses.

7HEALTH WORKFORCE
References used to inform this Issue Brief
Chung, C. E., & Kowalski, S. (2012). Job stress, mentoring, psychological empowerment, and
job satisfaction among nursing faculty. Journal of Nursing Education, 51(7), 381-388.
Elgie, R. (2017). Politics, economics, and nursing shortages: A critical look at United States
government policies. Nursing Economics, 25(5), 285-293.
Hoboubi, N., Choobineh, A., Kamari Ghanavati, F., Keshavarzi, S., & Akbar Hosseini, A.
(2016). The Impact of Job Stress and Job Satisfaction on Workforce Productivity in an
Iranian Petrochemical Industry. Safety and health at work, 8(1), 67-71.
Khamisa, N., Peltzer, K., & Oldenburg, B. (2013). Burnout in relation to specific contributing
factors and health outcomes among nurses: a systematic review. International journal of
environmental research and public health, 10(6), 2214-2240.
Lu, H., Barriball, K. L., Zhang, X., & While, A. E. (2012). Job satisfaction among hospital
nurses revisited: a systematic review. International journal of nursing studies, 49(8),
1017-1038.
Lu, H., Zhao, Y., & While, A. (2019). Job satisfaction among hospital nurses: a literature review.
International journal of nursing studies.
Naz, S., Hashmi, A. M., & Asif, A. (2016). Burnout and quality of life in nurses of a tertiary care
hospital in Pakistan. JPMA The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 66(5), 532-
6.

8HEALTH WORKFORCE
Proctor, S. (2017). Strategies to Improve Job Satisfaction and Reduce Voluntary Employee
Turnover of Nurses.
Yom, Y.-H. (2013). Analysis of burnout and job satisfaction among nurses based on the job
demand-resource model. Journal of the Korean Academy of Nursing, 43, 114-122.
doi:10.4040/Jkan.2013.43.1.114
Zhang, L.-F., You, L.-M., Liu, K., Zheng, J., Fang, J.-B., Lu, M.-M., & Bu, X.-Q. (2014). The
association of Chinese hospital work environment with nurse burnout, job satisfaction,
and intention to leave. Nursing Outlook, 62,128-137. doi:10.1016/J.Outlook.2013.10.010
Zhu, J., Rodgers, S., & Melia, K. M. (2014). A qualitative exploration of nurses leaving nursing
practice in China. Nurse Open, 2, 3-13. doi:10.1002/nop2.11
Zin, S. M., Ahmad, N., Ngah, N. E. B., Ismail, R. B., Ibrahim, N. B., & Abdullah, I. H. T., . . .
Tajuddin, N. H. B. A. (2012). Motivation model for employee retention: Applicability to
HRM practices in Malaysian SME sector. Canadian Social Science,8(5), 8-12. Retrieved
from http://www.cscanada.ne