Job and career satisfaction among staff nurses: effects of job setting and environment.

Just as customer satisfaction is the key to retaining customers, satisfaction with job and career choices are important for keeping staff nurses on the job. The roles of employment setting, job commitment, tenure, years until retirement, short staffing, and patient load in predicting satisfaction were assessed for RN and LPN staff nurses. Results show that when RNs and LPNs feel short staffing interferes with their ability to meet patient care needs, they are also less satisfied with both their job and their career. In order not to exacerbate the current nursing shortage, employers must find ways to ensure adequate staffing to keep staff nurses satisfied and on the job.