Abstract
▶ While numerous studies have quantified the challenging aspects of the nursing profession today in terms such as vacancy and turnover rates, fewer have truly "qualified" the personal aspects of being a nurse in verbatim terms such as "unmanageable" and "impossible." ▶ This study attempts to complement existing data with deeper meaning about the complexity and intensity of the nursing experience. ▶ The survey of nurses (N=801) from Texas addressed issues such as compensation, personal health, and work environment. ▶ Several themes emerged from the survey including a clear statement that nurses love the "intrinsic rewards of nursing" with equally clear statements about negative aspects of their career. ▶ Compensation was frequently cited as a dissatisfier with respect to issues like recruitment being valued more than retention, wage compression for bed-side roles, and minimal differentiation for expertise. ▶ Stressors named by nurses were multi-faceted: paperwork, patient complexity, turnover, and overtime. ▶ Feedback related to workload was notably intense with comments such as "powerfully overwhelming".
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 25-30+48 |
| Journal | Nursing Economics |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 1 2005 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Leadership and Management