This paper responds to the article titled “Job and Career Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions of Newly Graduated Nurses.” The article was authored by Laschinger Heather who is affiliated to the University Of Ontario School Of Nursing. It was published on 4thth issue of the Journal of Journal of Nursing Management in 2012. Spencer. The article contains the details of a research conducted to find out work life experiences of new graduate nurses and to determine predictors of job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Shortage of nurses in hospital is a global problem. Many explanations have been given as to why most healthcare institutions are poorly staffed. However, factor stands out as the main cause of the problem. This is low job satisfaction that is responsible for high nurse turnover. To this end, Laschinger did a valuable research that was meant to deepen understanding on the factors that contribute to low job satisfaction level among nurses. The factors range from personal to situational factors as has been captured in the research. Scrutiny of demographic characteristics of the sample reveals a lot about nursing practice in Ontario. The disproportionate representation of women in nursing practice is an issue of great concern. Out of the 153 nurses intervened by the researcher, 143 were females. Males accounted for 2% of the nurses at Ontario hospital. The overrepresentation of women in nursing practice is evident in many countries including United States, United Kingdom and Australia. Nonetheless, it is an indication that nursing is still considered a female career in Canada. Majority of the new graduate nurses at Ontario hospital served on a full time basis. However, significant proportion, 45.1% worked as either part time employees or casuals.
This indicates that the cost of healthcare is very high in Ontario. Consequently, the healthcare institutions avoid recruiting nurses on permanent terms to minimize cost. It is also an indication that there is a serious shortage of nurses at the hospital. Therefore, the institutions employ temporary nurses to bridge the shortfall. According to the finding of Laschinger’s research, the overall job and career satisfactions for new graduate nurses were 3.04 and 4.23 respectively. The new graduate nurses were very satisfied with nursing career. This is corroborated by the fact that 62.1% of them chose nursing as the first career. However, the overall job satisfaction was average. According to Laschinger (2012), the most important motivational factor for the first year and second year nurses were emotional exhaustion, incivility and empowerment and cynicism and empowerment. These factors greatly influence intrinsic motivation. It can, therefore, be concluded that inner motivational factors had a great impact on nurses’ job satisfaction. Emotional exhaustion and cynicism are components of burnout.
About 33% of Canadian nurses experiences burnout at workplaces (Gordon, 2005). The research established that the job turnover and the career turnover intention for new graduate nurse was 2.72 and 1.53 respectively. New graduate nurses were less likely to leave nursing career for other career. They were satisfied with their career choice and were more willing to serve as nurses. However, a good number had intentions of terminating their employment with Ontario Hospital. This implies nurses do not view their roles as sources of stressors. Instead, they view working conditions as the main cause of job satisfaction. In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that the findings of the research conducted by Laschinger produced valuable findings that can be used to improve job satisfaction and lower turnover rate among nurses. Healthcare institutions should focus on boosting intrinsic satisfaction in nurses by reducing the sources of burnouts. They and provide support, opportunities and information to nurses to enable then become autonomous and grow.
References
Gordon, S. (2005). Nursing against the odds: How health care cost cutting, media stereotypes, and medical hubris undermine nurses and patient care. Ithaca, N.Y: ILR Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press.
Laschinger, H. K. S. (2012). Job and career satisfaction and turnover intentions of newly graduated nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 20(4), 272-284.
