Nurse managers: role expectations and job satisfaction.

The purpose of the study was to assess the relationships among nurse managers' perceived job stress/job satisfaction, time allocation, and role expectations. The dependent variable was job satisfaction. The sample consisted of 72 nurse managers who responded to a self-administered questionnaire. It was found that nursing supervisors are satisfied with the actual time allocation of nurse managers, whereas physicians and nursing staff believe that more of the nurse managers' time should be given to direct patient care. When discrepancies occur about the allocation of nurse manager time, the nurse manager is apt to have lower job satisfaction.