The Relationship between Army Crna Job Satisfaction and Turnover

The purpose of this study was to identify components of job satisfaction of Army CRNAs and their relationship to turnover. There is a shortage of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) in the Army. Presently, only 80% of the allocated CRNA slots are filled. If the annual attrition rate continues to average 25-30 CRNAs, and the Army continues to produce 30-35 CRNAs per year, there will only be an average of 5-10 new CRNAs annually. The ability to perform the peacetime and wartime mission must not be compromised by a shortage of CRNAs. The descriptive/exploratory design utilized demographics and a 57-item questionnaire utilized by Cowan (1995) and Stamps (1997). Both instruments were sent to active duty Army CRNAs in clinical positions, n = 213, with a response rate of 60% (n = 123). Civilian job offers (r = .333); age (r = .248); rank (-. 373); position within department (.321); and job satisfaction (r = .328) correlated with the respondents decision to choose the Army as a career at p < .01. Job satisfaction (r = .485, p < .01), a sense of belonging to the department (r = .200, p < .01), liking the department very much (r = .243, p < .01), and being satisfied with present job (r = .238, p < .01) correlated with respondents who initially were not career Army. Job satisfaction was influenced by interpersonal relations (r = .439, p < .01) and organizational work satisfaction (r = .317, p < .01). Organizational work satisfaction was influenced by interpersonal relations (r = .540, p < .01). Thirty-eight percent of respondents who chose to resign their commission prior to retiring (Leavers) felt they did not contribute much to the decision making in their department, compared to 17.6% of those who chose the Army as a career (Stayers). Forty-three percent of Leavers, compared to 22% of the Stayers, reported bickering and back biting within their department.