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.

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