Faculty dissatisfaction and fewer qualified recruits choosing a career in academia threaten the integrity of the higher education system. Retention of highly qualified nurse faculty affects the reputation of the school of nursing, the faculty commitment to the organization, and the learning environment for students. Through use of a system's framework derived from Neuman and Kast and Rosenzweig, the purpose of this survey was to ascertain the relationship between job satisfaction among nurse faculty and selected demographic variables, organizational characteristics, and role orientation. Approximately 80 per cent of the schools of nursing in the target population of universities offering a doctorate in nursing participated in the study. The overall subject response rate was 60 per cent. Instruments used for data collection included three researcher-developed tools and two standardized instruments to measure job satisfaction (the Job Descriptive Index and the Job in General Scale). Significant correlations (P < .05) emerged between each of the demographic variables and at least one of the criterion measures of job satisfaction. In addition to descriptive statistics and correlation analysis, a stepwise linear regression-correlation analysis showed that salary, degree level of nursing students taught, and length of annual contract were significant indicators of nurse faculty job satisfaction.

No description available.

The shortage of faculty in nursing education programs has been well documented by the National League for Nursing. Job satisfaction is important in retaining nurse educators, and one New York nursing program was interested in examining the potential impact of mentoring on satisfaction. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine job satisfaction, measured by the Job Descriptive Index/Job in General scale (JDI/JIG), between nurse faculty participants in formal mentoring programs compared to participants receiving an informal type of mentoring. In addition, the length of employment was examined as a possible factor in predicting job satisfaction. The theoretical framework for the study included Knowles's theory of adult learning, Maslow's theory on motivation, and Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. Forty-nine nursing faculty completed a survey with 2 components including a faculty questionnaire and the JDI/JIG scale. Logistic regression was used to assess whether formal mentoring programs or length of employment were predictive of job satisfaction. Scores on the 6 component parts of the JDI/JIG determined job satisfaction. Neither length of employment nor formal mentoring programs were predictive of job satisfaction. Recommendations included continued research on job satisfaction with larger samples of nurse faculty. These findings will promote positive social change by informing discussions at the local site on ways to improve job satisfaction amongst nursing faculty, which could reduce the nursing faculty shortage at the local site.