<p> The following study explored the experiential eustress accounts of nurses within a hospital work environment. Previous literature found some level of connection between eustress and hope, self-efficacy, collaboration, resilience, and self-perceptions of health. However, the previous literature was attempting to explore and explain a cognitively appraised construct, eustress, without first gathering experiential accounts of the construct from participants. This may have altered the discoveries previously made and necessitates the following research. The current study produced data that helped to address the gap in the previous literature relevant to the guiding research question: What is the eustress experience of RNs in organizational contexts? The constructivist grounded theory method was used to answer the research question. The current study explored the experiential accounts of 12 Registered Nurses (RN) from a hospital within the Western US. All participants were RNs, female, aged 25-65 and having various experience levels (5 to 43 years). Various levels of grounded theory coding were used on the data to produce three models and a theory. The current study found that the participants explained eustress differently than the terminology used in previous literature. All accounts of eustress were directly connected to intense situations (highly stressful experience) that had positive outcomes. These eustress experiences altered the RNs in self-reported beneficial ways, ranging from enhancing confidence, resilience, and professional growth to changing motivation, altering professional perceptions, and changing how they felt about stress in general. The presence of a collaborative, open-minded, and trustworthy team was also noted as having a profound effect on participant recollections of eustress.</p><p>

<p> Employee satisfaction and engagement have a direct impact on customer satisfaction. Dissatisfaction and disengagement lead to an increased intent to leave a job, poor patient outcomes, and decreased productivity. The retention and recruitment of qualified staff becomes an urgent priority to ensure safe and prudent patient care. The purpose of the qualitative research study was to better understand the beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and reasons for emergency department registered nurses (ED RN) satisfaction and engagement in the workplace focusing on Herzberg&rsquo;s, Vroom&rsquo;s, Yetton&rsquo;s, Maslow&rsquo;s, Benner&rsquo;s, and Kahn&rsquo;s motivation and engagement theoretical frameworks. The qualitative case research study focused on satisfaction and engagement elements using structured interviews of 21 ED nurses from three hospitals of varying sizes and capabilities and included three generational cohorts of Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial RN. Interview analysis showed distinct similarities and differences in nurse satisfaction and work engagement with a consistency in job engagement with no distinct differences among generations. Distinct findings included persistent lack of staff resources, poor communication from leaders, and compassion fatigue among staff. Findings reflected strong interpersonal relationships, teamwork, autonomy, and a strong sense of accomplishment among nurses. Findings indicate that satisfied nurses have improved outcomes, produce happier customers, and feel a sense of accomplishment in the job performed. The positive social impact of this study is in providing guidance on retaining ED RN to provide adequate staffing levels for safe, quality healthcare.</p><p>

<p> The AACN has asked academic leaders to align the performance of their organizations to the prescribed standards within the <i>Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice</i> document and has provided indicators of quality suggestions for program enhancement as a means of promoting continuous performance improvement. However, the AACN has not prescribed a strategy that specifies the manner in which colleges should achieve these benchmarked standards, which has created uncertainty among administrators about whether the indicators of quality lead to improvements that are actually indicative of improved performance.</p><p> This dissertation used multiple linear regression research design to determine whether predictive relationships exist between the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) indicators of quality and the Baldrige core values and concepts of performance improvement within Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education accredited baccalaureate colleges of nursing.</p><p> The purpose of this study was to determine whether the behaviors associated with specific AACN indicators of quality reflect behaviors that the Baldrige core values and concepts have already proven to be successful in achieving continuous performance improvement. The results revealed nine AACN indicators of quality behaviors most likely to enhance performance improvement outcomes within baccalaureate colleges of nursing. They include; (1) Resources are budgeted for research, development, business operations, public relations, marketing, and human resources; (2) Establishing and upholding policies that reflect faculty and leadership development resources; (3) Student experiences include service learning opportunities; (4) Practice partnerships include collaborative practice initiatives; (5) Collecting data and making program changes that focus on the level of graduate satisfaction with their preparation for the profession; (6) Faculty have input into the governance of the college/school; (7) The majority of faculty have a presence in state, regional, national, and international professional activities; (8) Opportunities for baccalaureate graduate's employment with practice partnerships; and (9) Formal mentoring program for clinical preceptors.</p><p> The results underline the fact that continuous performance improvement within baccalaureate colleges of nursing is a deliberate and dynamic analysis-driven endeavor dependent on an organization's ability, willingness, and initiative to continually strive to narrow the chasm between actual and potential performance results.</p>