Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Feb;30(2):202-10.
doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0100.

Nurses' widespread job dissatisfaction, burnout, and frustration with health benefits signal problems for patient care

Matthew D McHugh  1 , Ann Kutney-Lee, Jeannie P Cimiotti, Douglas M Sloane, Linda H Aiken
Affiliations

Nurses' widespread job dissatisfaction, burnout, and frustration with health benefits signal problems for patient care

Matthew D McHugh et al. Health Aff (Millwood). 2011 Feb.

Abstract

Job dissatisfaction among nurses contributes to costly labor disputes, turnover, and risk to patients. Examining survey data from 95,499 nurses, we found much higher job dissatisfaction and burnout among nurses who were directly caring for patients in hospitals and nursing homes than among nurses working in other jobs or settings, such as the pharmaceutical industry. Strikingly, nurses are particularly dissatisfied with their health benefits, which highlights the need for a benefits review to make nurses' benefits more comparable to those of other white-collar employees. Patient satisfaction levels are lower in hospitals with more nurses who are dissatisfied or burned out-a finding that signals problems with quality of care. Improving nurses' working conditions may improve both nurses' and patients' satisfaction as well as the quality of care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Exhibit 1
Exhibit 1
Percentage Of Nurses Dissatisfied And Burned Out, By Setting And Role, 2006–07
Exhibit 2
Exhibit 2
Nurses’ Dissatisfaction With Specific Aspects Of Their Jobs, By Setting And Role, 2006–07
Exhibit 3
Exhibit 3
Percentage Of Dissatisfied And Burned-Out Nurses Providing Direct Patient Care In Hospitals With Better, Mixed, And Poor Work Environments, 2006–07
Exhibit 4
Exhibit 4
Percentage Of Nurses Dissatisfied With Specific Aspects Of Their Jobs In Hospitals With Better, Mixed, And Poor Work Environments, 2006–07
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wachter RM. Patient safety at ten: unmistakable progress, troubling gaps. Health Aff (Millwood) 2010;29(1):165–173. - PubMed
    1. Jha AK, Orav EJ, Zheng J, Epstein AM. Patients’ perception of hospital care in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2008;359(18):1921–1931. - PubMed
    1. Ejaz FK, Noelker LS, Schur D, Whitlatch CJ, Looman WJ. Family satisfaction with nursing home care for relatives with dementia. J Appl Gerontol. 2002;21(3):368–384.
    1. Aiken LH, Clarke SP, Sloane DM, Sochalski JA, Busse R, Clarke H, et al. Nurses’ reports on hospital care in five countries. Health Aff (Millwood) 2001;20(3):43–53. - PubMed
    1. Institute of Medicine. Keeping patients safe: transforming the work environment of nurses. Washington (DC): National Academies Press; 2003. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources