Nurses point to workplace politics as the least rewarding aspect of their job, according to Medscape's 2022 report on nurse career satisfaction.
About 21 percent of registered nurses and 18 percent of licensed practical nurses selected workplace politics as the least reporting aspect of the job, making it the most commonly selected response.
The report, published Dec. 9, is based on a survey of 7,540 practicing nurses polled between May 3, 2022 and July 26, 2022. Most respondents were registered nurses, with half as many nurse practitioners and licensed practical nurses.
Five more findings:
- Nearly 30 percent of RNs and LPNs said that making a difference in people's lives is the most rewarding aspect of the job, making it the top-selected response.
- Nearly half of respondents have experienced emotional abuse, according to the survey. RNs who experienced emotional abuse indicated a manager or administrator was responsible 50 percent of the time.
- At least 39 percent of respondents in each position category said the pandemic decreased their satisfaction with being a nurse, with RNs (52 percent) and LPNs (44 percent) most likely to report this.
- In each nursing position category, at least 25 percent of respondents reported being burned out or very burned out. LPNs and RNs reported the highest levels of burnout at 37 percent and 36 percent, respectively. This is similar to the levels reported in Medscape's 2021 nurse career satisfaction survey.
- At the same time, most respondents (72 percent) said they are happy with their career choice. Twenty-seven percent said they would not choose nursing again, and 1 percent indicated they had not been in the profession long enough to make that determination.
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