Running head: NURSE TEAMWORK AND JOB SATISFACTION

Nurse Team Work and Job Satisfaction

Rosalyn Ardoin
Kapiolani Community College

NURSE TEAMWORK AND JOB SATISFACTION

Nurse Team Work and Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction can be broken down into many different categories including
staffing, hours worked, newly hired nurses, seasoned nurses and gender. The bottom line
is though, without job satisfaction there is a high rate of turnover, increased discrepancies
and a general lack of teamwork; all of which can affect the work place and patient care.
The focus of this paper is to highlight what influences positive and negative nurse job
satisfaction and how certain areas of work life may be improved. Healthy work places
make for a greater impact on career fulfillment and overall wellbeing of nurses (Chang,
Ma, Chiu, Lin & Lee 2009). Included in this paper is the impact of collaborating and
building teamwork among nurses including experienced and new nurses, the impact of
nurse - physician relationships, and correlations between nurse management and nurses to
achieve career engagement and job satisfaction. This paper will also discuss implications
to improve overall job satisfaction and patient care.
A common theme among multiple studies regarding work place satisfaction was
nurse-to-nurse relationships. Moore, Leahy, Sublett & Lanig (2013) stated nurse
satisfaction is promoted when nurses avoid cliques, uphold respect for one another, build
team member strengths, and foster open communication and inclusivity (pg. 178). New
nurse graduates are often targets for being bullied by seasoned nurses, (this is a whole
topic in itself, you should not just mention it as a side note) as the new graduates rely on
seasoned nurses for guidance, this in turn leads to a decrease in work performance, a high
rate of turnover and a decline in physical health (Moore et al). Lack of respect for new
graduates demonstrates the importance of setting a strong foundation for teamwork and
communication from the beginning from all nurses in a unit. Moore et al., suggested that

NURSE TEAMWORK AND JOB SATISFACTION

when there are poor nurse-to-nurse interactions new graduates and seasoned nurses are
less likely to ask for help or collaborate when making important decisions, this in turn
increases the likelihood of mistakes. Lack of respect then directly effects communication,
retention of nurses and patient care. When nurses are unhappy or feel threatened they are
more likely to transfer to another unit or leave the profession all together. A study
conducted on nurse satisfaction included 82 nurses, of the participants interviewed, one
nurse stated, My very first nursing job was a negative, hurtful experience, and I lasted 4
monthsI considered leaving the profession for good (Moore et al. 2013, p. 175). Other
factors that have been mentioned in other studies are the spirit of teamwork and
willingness to chip in among nurses in a single unit. This includes trust, team orientation
and back up (Kalisch, Lee & Rochman, 2010).
Another area where there is large dissatisfaction is in nurse physician
relationships and communications. Chang, Ma, Chiu, Lin & Lee (2009) summarized that
a good relationship between nurses and physicians increased quality of care for patients,
improved nurse satisfaction and decreases the cost of care (p. 1947). This implied then,
if the relationship between physicians and nurses is obstructed adverse patient outcomes
arise along with decreased quality in patient care, as well as frustration and stress.
Nurses felt that their input was not well received by physicians, as described by Johnson
and King (2012) physicians do not understand or respect the role of nurses and their job
responsibilities (p. 346). The impact in the lack of communication is clear; nurses are
the advocate and the ears of a patient, if nurses have a poor relationship with the
physician patient concerns and need are at risk. Johnson and King (2012) study statistics
show that 54% of nurses had witnessed disruptive behavior by physicians and only 26%

NURSE TEAMWORK AND JOB SATISFACTION

has reported the behavior; the disruptive behavior included nurses being treated as
handmaidens (p. 345). All of this plays a role in the dissatisfaction of nurses and
patients.
The majority of the issues that arise in the work place between nurse-to-nurse
relationships could be lessened and possibly solved with proper nurse management in the
units. This is the next point in job satisfaction; nurse manager role in the unit and how it
effectstheir effect on nurses, which iscould be the most important factor pertaining to job
satisfaction. According to Hynes, Bonner and Pryor (2010) nurse managers contributed
to job dissatisfaction by providing inadequate communication, absence during
complicated clinical events, and giving negative criticism in place of positive
constructive criticism, problem solving solutions and encouragement (p. 810). There is
also a general theme through out the research articles that focused on nurses autonomy
and being supported by nurse managers. As summarized by Hynes et al., (2010)
autonomy in direct patient care, professional relationships and leadership roles supported
by nurse managers allowed for nurses to use critical thinking skills, intrinsic skills and
prioritizing which all led to an increase in job satisfaction. Further, nurse managers also
play a large role in role-modeling, managing workloads, flexibility with scheduling and
patient safety. Although there is no set number for patient to nurse ratio, when nurses
workload in lessened job satisfaction is increased. Also, when nurse managers are active
in encouraging productive interactions with co-workers and facilitating coping strategies
by example, job satisfaction is highergreater (Hynes et al., (2010).
All of the above scenarios will always exist, but job satisfaction can always be
improved. Implications to managing job satisfaction include strengthening nurse-to-nurse

NURSE TEAMWORK AND JOB SATISFACTION

relationships, improving nurse manger roles, and supporting and enriching nursephysician relationships. There has been many studies and tools implemented in
measuring job satisfaction like the Index of Work Satisfaction adopted by the NDNQI
(CITE), but there has been minimal support for improving job satisfaction. In a pilot
study by Yurumezogle and Kocaman (2012) where the focus was on improving job
satisfaction and retaining nurses suggested new nurses should be supported during the
transition to a new hospital or out of school. To do this, there should be preceptor-training
programs to help facilitate and teach the seasoned nurses with integrating the new nurses
to the unit. Social activities were also suggested in aiding in nurse-to-nurse interactions.
In regard to nurse management Yurumezogle and Kocaman (2012) proved that there was
increase in satisfaction when managers held an open door policy, one on one
communication and acknowledged patient satisfaction and work well done. In regard to
physicians some suggestions by Johnson and King (2013) include establishing a
mentoring role between nurses and physician where they can shadow each other and
understand better each others roles and responsibilities.
In conclusion, there is a great deal of importance on the factors contributing to
nurse satisfaction and job retention among nurses. Through the multiple studies and
articles written over the topic the surfacing issues pertain to inter-personal relationships
throughout the unit including relations among physicians. There is an added emphasis on
nurse manager positions though. There is great need for nurse managers to realize their
impact and role in nurse job satisfaction. There also seems to be a lack of resources for
both the staff and the mangers for establishing a healthy work environment that in turn
directly effected s the patient.

NURSE TEAMWORK AND JOB SATISFACTION

Good ending
You need to fix your punctuation problems. Read your paper out loud and you will find
some mistakes. Study your APA book

References

NURSE TEAMWORK AND JOB SATISFACTION

Chang, W., Ma, J., Chiu, H., Lin, K., & Lee, P. (2009). Job satisfaction and perceptions of
quality of patient care, collaboration and teamwork in acute care hospitals.
Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65 (9), 1946-1955. doi:10.1111/j.13652648.2009.05085.x
Johnson, S., & King D. (2012) Nurses perceptions of nurse-physician relationships:
Medical-surgical vs. intensive care. MEDSURG Nursing, 21 (6), 343-347.
Kalish, B.J., Hyunhwa, L., & Rochman, M. (2010). Nursing staff teamwork and job
satisfaction Nursing staff teamwork and job satisfaction. Journal Of Nursing
Management, 18 (8), 938-947. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2010.01153x
Moore, L., Leahy, C., Sublett, C., & Lanig, H. (2013). Understanding nurse-to-nurse
relationships and their impact on work environments. MEDSURG Nursing, 22 (3),
172-179
Utriainen, K., & Kyngas, H (2009). Hospital nurses job satisfaction: A literature review.
Journal of Nursing Management, 17 (8), 1002-1010. doi:10.111/j.13652834.2009.01028x
Yurumezogle, H., & Kocaman, G. (2012). Pilot study for evidence-based nursing
management: improving the levels of job satisfaction, organizational
commitment, and intent to leave among nurses in Turkey. Nursing & Health
Sciences. 14 (2), 221-228. Doi:10.111/j.1442-2018.2012.00682.x

Formatting of references needs fixing

Grading rubric
Dimension

Exceeds

Meets Expectations

Needs Improvement

NURSE TEAMWORK AND JOB SATISFACTION

Expectations
Topic

Choice of topic

___ Approved topic

___ Not an approved topic

Research (20%)

Scholarly sources

___ sufficient, relevant sources

At least 3 from nursing journals
___ recent, appropriate
sources

___ sufficient sources; some

irrelevant
___ recent but some
inappropriate sources; none
within last 2 yrs.

___ few or no scholarly

sources
___ none within last 5 years

Use of sources

___ data and arguments from

sources are appropriately and
used

___ statements are factually

accurate but irrelevant to the
topic

___ misrepresents some

sources' data or conclusions

Content

___ comprehensive and

accurate; key elements of
assignment covered

___ generalized statements

Support

___ Major points supported by

specific examples and
references

___ most statements are

accurate; missing one of the
key elements of the
assignment.
___ statements are adequately
supported

___ statements are made

without providing support

Structure

___ entire paper is very clear

and organized

___ paper is clear and

organized for the most part

___ entire paper lacks clarity

and structure

Transitions from one idea

to the next

___ excellent section

transitions

___ adequate section

transitions

___ lack of section transitions

Introduction and
conclusion

___ introduction provides

sufficient background on the
topic and conclusion follow
logically from the body of the
paper.

___ clear and concise intro and

conclusion

___ no clear intro and/or

conclusion

Sentence structure
grammar, spelling,
sentence structure,
abbreviations
Paraphrasing

___ excellent mechanics

___ a few errors, minimal

distraction

___ many errors. Mechanics

interfere with reader's
understanding of text

___ not paraphrased. Sources

are
mined for facts but the
student
provides style and structure

___ paraphrase: the other

source is identifiable as the
origin of the style and
structure

___ close paraphrase:

presentation of the
information is clearly the
work of someone else. This
is unacceptable.

Use of APA format

___ cover page, headers,

running head, subheaders,
in-text citation, reference
page correctly formatted

___ few errors in formatting

cover page, headers, in-text
citation, and/or reference
page

___ cover page, headers, intext citation, reference page

formatted incorrectly

Recent scholarly sources

Subject Matter
(40%)

Organization
(20%)

Mechanics (20%)

TOTAL