The literature is replete with evidence that the stress inherent in health care negatively impacts health care professionals, leading to increased depression, decreased job satisfaction, and psychological distress. In an attempt to address this, the current study examined the effects of a short-term stress management program, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), on health care professionals. Results from this prospective randomized controlled pilot study suggest that an 8-week MBSR intervention may be effective for reducing stress and increasing quality of life and self-compassion in health care professionals. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

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Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Health Care Professionals: Results From a Randomized Trial

This study examined the relationship between moral distress intensity, moral distress frequency and the ethical work environment, and explored the relationship of demographic characteristics to moral distress intensity and frequency. A group of 106 nurses from two large medical centers reported moderate levels of moral distress intensity, low levels of moral distress frequency, and a moderately positive ethical work environment. Moral distress intensity and ethical work environment were correlated with moral distress frequency. Age was negatively correlated with moral distress intensity, whereas being African American was related to higher levels of moral distress intensity. The ethical work environment predicted moral distress intensity. These results reveal a difference between moral distress intensity and frequency and the importance of the environment to moral distress intensity.

Nurse Moral Distress and Ethical Work Environment

Although several variables have been correlated with nursing job satisfaction, the findings are not uniform across studies. Three commonly noted variables from the nursing literature are: autonomy, job stress, and nurse-physician collaboration. This meta-analysis examined the strength of the relationships between job satisfaction and autonomy, job stress, and nurse-physician collaboration among registered nurses working in staff positions. A meta-analysis of 31 studies representing a total of 14,567 subjects was performed. Job satisfaction was most strongly correlated with job stress (ES = -.43), followed by nurse-physician collaboration (ES = .37), and autonomy (ES = .30). These findings have implications for the importance of improving the work environment to increase nurses' job satisfaction.

A meta‐analysis of studies of nurses' job satisfaction

Nurses have been found to experience higher levels of stress-related burnout compared to other health care professionals. Despite studies showing that both job satisfaction and burnout are effects of exposure to stressful working environments, leading to poor health among nurses, little is known about the causal nature and direction of these relationships. The aim of this systematic review is to identify published research that has formally investigated relationships between these variables. Six databases (including CINAHL, COCHRANE, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PROQUEST and PsyINFO) were searched for combinations of keywords, a manual search was conducted and an independent reviewer was asked to cross validate all the electronically identified articles. Of the eighty five articles that were identified from these databases, twenty one articles were excluded based on exclusion criteria; hence, a total of seventy articles were included in the study sample. The majority of identified studies exploring two and three way relationships (n = 63) were conducted in developed countries. Existing research includes predominantly cross-sectional studies (n = 68) with only a few longitudinal studies (n = 2); hence, the evidence base for causality is still very limited. Despite minimal availability of research concerning the small number of studies to investigate the relationships between work-related stress, burnout, job satisfaction and the general health of nurses, this review has identified some contradictory evidence for the role of job satisfaction. This emphasizes the need for further research towards understanding causality.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/6/2214/pdf

Burnout in relation to specific contributing factors and health outcomes among nurses: a systematic review.

nabirye r.c., brown k.c., pryor e.r. & maples e.h. (2011) Journal of Nursing Management19, 760–768
Occupational stress, job satisfaction and job performance among hospital nurses in Kampala, Uganda

Aims  To assess levels of occupational stress, job satisfaction and job performance among hospital nurses in Kampala, Uganda; and how they are influenced by work and personal characteristics.

Background  Occupational stress is reported to affect job satisfaction and job performance among nurses, thus compromising nursing care and placing patients’ lives at risk. Although these factors have been studied extensively in the US and Europe, there was a need to explore them from the Ugandan perspective.

Methods  A correlational study was conducted with 333 nurses from four hospitals in Kampala, Uganda. A questionnaire measuring occupational stress, job satisfaction and job performance was used. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and anova.

Results  There were significant differences in levels of occupational stress, job satisfaction and job performance between public and private not-for-profit hospitals, nursing experience and number of children.

Conclusions  Organizational differences between public and private not-for-profit hospitals influence the study variables.

Implications for Nursing Management  On-the-job training for nurse managers in human resource management to increase understanding and advocacy for organizational support policies was recommended. Research to identify organizational, family or social factors which contribute to reduction of perceived occupational stress and increase job satisfaction and job performance was recommended.

Occupational stress, job satisfaction and job performance among hospital nurses in Kampala, Uganda.

Stamps and Piedmonte's Index of Work Satisfaction and Harris's Nurse Stress Index were completed by 287 registered nurses employed in state prison health care facilities in order to assess job satisfaction and job stress among correctional nurses. Correctional nurses' expectations about job satisfaction were influenced by pay and autonomy. This finding was consistent with studies of hospital nurses. Important sources of job satisfaction were professional status and interaction with employees. Analysis of differences between expectations and sources of job satisfaction may provide understanding of career benefits and sources of dissatisfaction. Time pressures and organizational support and involvement were sources of stress. Multivariate analyses showed an inverse relationship between stress and job satisfaction. Information about job satisfaction and work stress and their correlates may be used to develop strategies to improve the recruitment and retention of correctional nurses.

An analysis of the relationship between job satisfaction and job stress in correctional nurses.

New perspectives on the impact of college on students, on linking general education, the major, electives and extra-classroom experiences toward the goal of “integrated learning,” and renewed emphasis on the importance of producing liberally educated college graduates, present opportunities for criminal justice educators to make their field a keystone in the architecture of a liberal education. In this essay, I argue that the multidisciplinary perspectives that characterize the field of criminal justice, as well as its core intellectual concerns, make criminal justice well-suited to serve as the infrastructure for a high-quality undergraduate liberal education program.

Liberal education and the criminal justice major

Results of a survey of 287 correctional nurses are reported. This report focuses on the differences in correctional nursing, health care needs of prisoners, and training needs of correctional nurse...

Correctional Nurses' Perceptions of Their Role, Training Requirements, and Prisoner Health Care Needs

Characteristics of 13 doctoral programs in criminal justice and criminology are examined. Features described include the age and size of the programs, representation of women and minorities among faculty and graduate students, admissions requirements and admissions activity, financial support available to graduate students, and characteristics of the curricula. Criminal justice doctoral programs vary widely on each of these characteristics.

Timothy J. Flanagan

Papers

An analysis of the relationship between job satisfaction and job stress in correctional nurses.

Liberal education and the criminal justice major

Correctional Nurses' Perceptions of Their Role, Training Requirements, and Prisoner Health Care Needs

Criminal justice doctoral programs in the United States and Canada: Findings from a national survey

Prospectus for a Journal of Criminal Justice Education