Abstract
This study aims to understand the details and factors related to work motivation of nurses in intensive care units. A self-rating questionnaire survey was conducted with 1218 nurses working in 49 hospitals with 300 or more beds and with intensive care units in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region of Japan. The questionnaire was comprised of 90 items, including a scale for work motivation, used as an objective variable, and personal factors, family environment factors, and work environment factors, as well as factors related to self-perception, opinion of work, and work stress used as explanatory variables. We performed a descriptive analysis, bivariate analysis (t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient), and a multivariate analysis (multiple regression analysis)(p < 0.05). A multiple regression analysis yielded an adjusted R2 of 0.638, and showed factors related to work motivation including, “Working with interest in work”, “Strong career commitment”, “Current ward placement and what was hoped for”, and “Strong organizational commitment”.
These results suggest that nurses need to have an interest in nursing expertise and improved career commitment so that working in intensive care units will improve their work motivation. Nurse administrators will need to focus on professionally upgrading the work environment to include workshops that will ensure nurses continue to be committed to their work while placing a priority on making assignments based on feedback from nurses.
