Globally, acute care nurses have high levels of burnout and report high intention to leave their organization (Elbarazi, Loney, Yousef, & Elias, 2017; Van Bogaert, Timmermans, et al., 2014). Burnout has been associated with lower ratings of nurse-reported quality of patient care (Van Bogaert, Kowalski, Weeks, van Heusden, & Clarke, 2013), increasing absenteeism, and turnover intention (Sasso et al., 2019). Thus, identification of factors influencing nurses' burnout and turnover intention is critical for enhancing the quality of patient care. Burnout among nurses and turnover intention seem to be driven by both individual and work-related factors. Evidence has shown that nurses are more likely to leave their job if they are male or if they hold a higher education degree (Delobelle et al., 2011). However, the evidence regarding the relationship between the level of education and nurse turnover intention is inconsistent. For example, Labrague, McEnoroe-Petitte, et al. (2018) found that nurses with a master's degree reported lower turnover intention than nurses with a
Aims
To (1) examine the level and variability of nurse work environment and job satisfaction and (2) explore how nurse job satisfaction in tertiary hospitals in Oman is influenced by the nurses' characteristics and work environment.
Background
In Oman and the Middle East, a scarcity of research addressing nurse work environment and job satisfaction exists. Such evidence is necessary for policymaking to positively impact nurse job outcomes, and therefore, quality of care.
Methods
We used a cross‐sectional descriptive design employing a sample of 454 local and expatriate nurses who responded to a self‐administered questionnaire.
Results
The work environment was favourable, and it positively correlated with job satisfaction. Nationality, education, hospital type, staffing, resources and participation in hospital affairs were significant predictors of nurse job satisfaction. The greatest amount of variation in nurse job satisfaction was explained by the work environment.
Conclusion
The influence of work environment on nurse job satisfaction is greater than nurse characteristics and hospital and unit types. Enhancing nurse participation in hospital affairs and providing adequate staffing and resources are central means of establishing healthy work environments, which is an auspicious, cost‐effective strategy for satisfying, and therefore, retaining nurses.
Implications for nursing and health policy
To enhance nurse work environment and job satisfaction in Oman and the Middle East, nurse and health leaders need to consider developing work and professional regulations and adopting policies to promote staffing, resources, wages, and benefits for nurses and encourage their promotion and career advancement; and foster nurse participation in hospital affairs.
We distributed the Religion and Spirituality in Cancer Care Study via the Middle East Cancer Consortium to physicians and nurses caring for advanced cancer patients. Survey items included how often spiritual care should be provided, how often respondents themselves provide it, and perceived barriers to spiritual care provision.ResultWe had 770 respondents (40% physicians, 60% nurses) from 14 Middle Eastern countries. The results showed that 82% of respondents think staff should provide spiritual care at least occasionally, but 44% provide spiritual care less often than they think they should. In multivariable analysis of respondents who valued spiritual care yet did not themselves provide it to their most recent patients, predictors included low personal sense of being spiritual (p < 0.001) and not having received training (p = 0.02; only 22% received training). How "developed" a country is negatively predicted spiritual care provision (p < 0.001). Self-perceived barriers were quite similar across cultures.Significance of resultsDespite relatively high levels of spiritual care provision, we see a gap between desirability and actual provision. Seeing oneself as not spiritual or only slightly spiritual is a key factor demonstrably associated with not providing spiritual care. Efforts to increase spiritual care provision should target those in favor of spiritual care provision, promoting training that helps participants consider their own spirituality and the role that it plays in their personal and professional lives.
This study provides a 17-item, Likert-scaled, self-reporting instrument, which is psychometrically sound for its content, comprehension, readability, and practicality, to measure patient satisfaction with nursing care quality in an Arabic context.
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