How leadership behaviors impact critical care nurse job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction is vital to nurses’ lives and can affect patient safety, productivity and performance, quality of care, retention and turnover, commitment to the organization and the profession, and the organization itself.1,2 Poor nurse satisfaction leads to negative consequences, such as overburdening workloads, poor quality of patient care, rising expenses associated with turnover and attrition, and nurses quitting their jobs and leaving the profession.3-5 Positive feelings toward leadership and work settings, including interpersonal relationships among nurses, increase overall nurse job satisfaction.6 And organizational empowerment was found to be directly associated with job satisfaction, particularly in areas where nurses feel they can impact policy.7 Studies suggest that leader behaviors can affect the work climate, which in turn affects financial results.8,9 Replacing a nurse is costly, so increasing critical care nurses’ job satisfaction is beneficial to organizations. One way to improve leadership effectiveness is for organizations to implement development programs that enhance leadership practices. Healthcare organizations can contribute to nurses’ overall professional development by identifying organizational activities that have the potential to increase job satisfaction. To sustain a competitive advantage and achieve organizational goals, leaders must implement strategies that attract, recognize, and retain the best critical care nurses.