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Nurses report high levels of job satisfaction and acknowledge that they're receiving better wages, according to a survey of 1,700 nurses by the Vanderbilt School of Nursing in Nashville, Tenn. In the 2004 survey, 46% of nurses report feeling "very satisfied" with their profession, compared with 37% who said the same thing in a 2002 survey.

 

The survey findings appear as a six-part series in Nursing Economic$ beginning with the March/April 2005 issue. Here are three key findings reported in the first part of the series.

 

* Nurses perceived a smaller gap between supply and demand of nurses than those who responded in 2002.

 

* Fewer nurses perceived salary and benefits as main causes of the shortage than those who responded in 2002.

 

* At least half of the nurses surveyed in 2004 perceived most recruitment and retention strategies as valuable. But only one strategy was observed by more than half of the nurses surveyed: mentoring programs for new graduates.

 

 

Spearheaded by noted nurse-researcher Peter Buerhaus, RN, PhD, FAAN, the study was supported by Johnson & Johnson's "Campaign for Nursing's Future." For more original research on promoting nursing as a career, see "Why Not Nursing?" on page 46 of this issue.

 

Source

 

Is the shortage of hospital registered nurses getting better or worse? Findings from two recent national surveys of RNs, Nursing Economic$, P Buerhaus, et al., March/April 2005.