Registered nurses' perceptions of nursing.

In Part II of this six part series on the state of the registered nurse (RN) workforce in the United States, the focus is on RNs' perceptions of nursing including RNs' satisfaction with their jobs in general and on specific elements of their work experiences, such as the quality of professional relationships. Satisfaction with a nursing career and whether RNs would recommend nursing to others are also examined. The improvements in nursing found in this analysis of two national surveys in 2002 and 2004 should be broadly communicated not only to energize individuals and organizations to continue their efforts to improve the workplace environment, but to challenge the many individuals in the nursing profession who hold onto a sense that nothing will ever improve in their organizations.