Abstract
For providing quality nursing services, it is important that the nurses who provide these services are able to engage in their work with a sense of personal growth and thereby increase their job satisfaction. We work on the internal medicine ward in our hospital and practice nursing care, focusing on admission and discharge support and end-of-life care for cancer patients. In a job satisfaction survey conducted in FY 2017 at our hospital (rated on a 5-point scale, with 2.5 or better being good), while the hospital average for overall satisfaction score was 2.56, it had a low level of 1.75 in our internal medicine ward. We, as nurse managers, then decided to improve job satisfaction by providing our staff nurses with support to improve their skills and achieve their professional goals.
From April to December 2018, we provided support to seven mid-career nurses aspiring to become preceptors, helping them improve their skills to climb the clinical ladder II in our nursing department, a requirement for preceptors. Specifically, we helped them understand good nursing practice and meaning of nursing through a case study that was assigned to apply the ladder II. As a result, Five of the seven nurses were approved for the ladder II. Staff nurses who were approved for the ladder II said that "I feel more confident in my nursing," "I was able to grow, " and "I want to do my best to provide hands-on guidance. " In the job satisfaction survey conducted in FY 2018, the overall satisfaction score in our ward improved to 2.19. In comparison to the FY 2017 survey, there was no change in the hygiene factor items, but scores increased in several items related to workplace culture and job description; It rose to 2.70 (2.13 in FY 2017) for "growth supportive", 2.64 (2.40 in 2017) for "growth through work" and 2.57 (2.25 in 2017) for "rewarding experience. " Therefore, the acquisition of the ladder by mid-career nurses changed the attitude toward work, which had a positive effect on work such as education and contributed to the satisfaction of the ward.
