<p> The nursing workforce shortage is not a new phenomenon but dates as far back as World War II. It is believed that the hospital nursing shortage poses a serious threat to the health and welfare of this nation. Therefore, the debate over nursing workforce shortages has been contentious and unresolved about appropriate solutions to address the shortage. Because nurses comprise the major and largest component of all health care employees and serve on the front line of patient care, a hospital's ability to attract and retain registered nurses must be met with competent, adequate and satisfied nursing staff. The nursing workforce shortage has received attention from hospital leaders and public policy makers alike in their approach to resolve this imminent national shortage of hospital nurses. Some researchers postulate there is no shortage of nurses in the United States but in response to poor working conditions, these same licensed registered nurses are consciously choosing not to work in the hospital industry due to deteriorating working conditions. To solve this problem in hospitals, the very same management and leadership practices that created this fictional crisis are the ones that can improve registered nurses' work conditions and enhance the attractiveness of nursing as a profession. The purpose of this study was to empirically describe the impact leadership practices of nurse managers and the nurse practice environment have on job satisfaction of registered nurses in two urban teaching hospitals. A cross-sectional quantitative research design using survey data was implemented to assess leadership practices of nurse managers, presence of the nurse practice environment, and job satisfaction of registered nurses. Results of this study reveal that nurse managers with exemplary leadership practices and favorable nurse practice environments have subordinate registered nurse staff with greater job satisfaction. Findings from this study might assist healthcare leaders to better understand the organizational characteristics associated with how to best organize nurse practice environments and the leadership practices of the nurse manager in better shaping the hospital environment to enhance the quality of nurses' work lives.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3576886 |
| Date | 18 December 2013 |
| Creators | Anderson, Kwamme A. |
| Publisher | University of Maryland Eastern Shore |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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