Background: Increasing emergency department (ED) visits per capita, combined with an aging population and ongoing budgetary constraints in Canada's health care system necessitate continuous improvements to ensure that patients remain safe and continue to receive high quality care. Addressing ED nursing job satisfaction is a cost-effective way of improving safety and quality of hospital care.
Methods: A scoping literature review was conducted to examine the breadth of job satisfaction literature and identify the factors that specifically influence the job satisfaction of ED nurses.
Results and discussion: A review of 161 journal articles revealed 34 articles fitting the inclusion criteria, which were included in the final analysis. There were ten predominant factors that allowed for workplace interventions, including six that did not achieve consensus. The ten factors are presented in the form of a practical model for implementation based on the Herzberg two-factor theory and the Maslow hierarchy of needs theory.
Conclusion: The model informs healthcare leaders how to pragmatically understand job satisfaction specific to ED nurses. This information in turn can be used to design interventions that increase job satisfaction while maintaining safety and quality of care.
Keywords: Emergency department; Emergency nursing; Emergency room; Emergency service; Healthcare management; Herzberg; Leadership; Mazlow; Patient safety; Quality of care; Work satisfaction.
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