The effects of work factors on nurses' job satisfaction, quality of care and turnover intentions in oncology

Abstract

Aims: We examined the effects of perceived supervisor support, value congruence and hospital nurse staffing on nurses' job satisfaction through the satisfaction of the three psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Then, we examined the links between job satisfaction and quality of care as well as turnover intentions from the workplace.

Background: There is growing interest in the relationships between work factors and nurses' job satisfaction. However, minimal research has investigated the effects of perceived supervisor support, value congruence and staffing on nurses' job satisfaction and the psychological mechanisms by which these factors lead to positive outcomes.

Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire was distributed in 11 oncology units between September 2015 - February 2016.

Method: Data were collected from a sample of 144 French nurses who completed measures of perceived supervisor support, value congruence, staffing adequacy, psychological need satisfaction, job satisfaction, quality of care and turnover intentions.

Results: The hypothesized model was tested with path analyses. Results revealed that psychological need satisfaction partially mediated the effects of perceived supervisor support, value congruence and hospital nurse staffing on job satisfaction. Moreover, job satisfaction was positively associated with quality of care and negatively linked to turnover intentions.

Conclusion: Overall, these findings provide insight into the influence of perceived supervisor support, value congruence and staffing on nurses' attitudes and behaviours.

Keywords: nursing; person-organization fit; psychological need satisfaction; staffing; supervisor support; value congruence.