Amid today's workforce challenges, it is more crucial than ever that hospital and health system leaders focus on opportunities to bolster engagement with nurses. Jarrard, a healthcare strategic communications consultancy, recently examined these opportunities via a national nurse survey.
Jarrard fielded the online survey of 938 nurses in August. The survey examines four areas: Job satisfaction and influencing factors; trust in and loyalty to both the organization and the team; onboarding and career development; and effectiveness of nurse managers as leaders. Eighty-two percent of the respondents are registered nurses, 14 percent are nurse practitioners or advanced practice registered nurses, and 4 percent are certified registered nurse anesthetists. More information about the methodology is available here.
Several findings:
1. About two-thirds of nurses reported satisfaction with their career, a number that's holding steady from last year.
2. Eighty-one percent of nurses said they are likely to stay in healthcare, up from 75 percent last year.
3. Nurses cited better communication within teams, stronger relationships with managers, and more recognition and appreciation from leaders as key opportunities to boost job satisfaction.
4. On a scale of 1-10, nurses gave onboarding programs an average mark of 6-7.
5. Two-thirds or fewer nurses agree their organization gives new nurses the resources to succeed.
6. Nurses who have been on the job at least two years feel a lower level of support from their organization.
7. More than half of nurses said they have been offered professional development opportunities/training in the last year.
8. When asked how they would rate their manager/team lead, nurses gave marginal overall marks.
9. Fewer than half of nurses reported a high degree of trust in their direct manager and department head.
10. Nurses are more likely to agree with positive statements about their manager or team lead than negative ones.
"The results of this survey blaze a path for increasing trust and improving nurse engagement today," Jarrard concluded. "Key opportunities lie in strengthening the people and programs that support frontline staff — from nurse onboarding to providing more frequent feedback to deeper manager training."