Changing care patterns and registered nurse job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction for registered nurses continues to be a source of conflict and dissension within the health care delivery system. The acute shortage of registered nurses in previous decades has abated, but turnover has not. Reengineering, restructuring, and other new care delivery organizational patterns are being implemented as cost savings are sought. A cross-sectional descriptive survey of a nursing organization was conducted on the eve of implementation of a change in the care pattern at a large, acute care institution. Although results indicated a low level of job satisfaction overall, the nurses indicated that there was respect and value for nursing within the institution.