title: Staffing and job satisfaction: nurses and nursing assistants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between staffing and job satisfaction of registered nurses (RNs) and nursing assistants (NAs).
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Although a number of previous studies have demonstrated the link between the numbers of patients cared for on the last shift and/or perceptions of staffing adequacy, we could find only one study that utilized a measure of actual staffing (opposed to perceptions of staffing adequacy) and correlated it with job satisfaction of registered nurses.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study included 3523 RNs and 1012 NAs in 131 patient care units. Staff were surveyed to determine job satisfaction and demographic variables. In addition, actual staffing data were collected from each of the study units.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hours per patient day was a significant positive predictor for registered nurse job satisfaction after controlling for covariates. For NAs, a lower skill mix was marginally significant with higher job satisfaction. In addition, the more work experience the NAs reported, the lower their job satisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adequate staffing levels are essential for RN job satisfaction whereas NA job satisfaction depends on the number of assistive personnel in the mix of nursing staff.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Two implications are (1) providing adequate staffing is critical to maintain RN job satisfaction and (2) the NA job needs to be re-engineered to make it a more attractive and satisfying career.
authors.affiliation: Innovation and Evaluation, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kalisch
authors.forename: Kyung Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D009728:Nursing Assistants / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: job satisfaction; nurse; nursing assistant; staffing