The Relationship between Interdisciplinary Practice and the Job Satisfaction of Nurse Practitioners in Pennsylvania
Open Access
- Author:
- Curci, Katherine M
- Graduate Program:
- Nursing
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 11, 2009
- Committee Members:
- Susan Jayne Loeb, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Susan Jayne Loeb, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Paula F Milone Nuzzo, Committee Member
Kim Kopenhaver Doheny, Committee Member
Kristen H Kjerulff, Committee Member - Keywords:
- nurse practitioners
interdisciplinary - Abstract:
- ABSTRACT The government, educational intuitions and professional organizations have been advocating for a move to a more interdisciplinary practice model for health care. These changes are thought to be one means of addressing the challenges faced by the current United States health care system. Understanding what contributes to and what detracts from job satisfaction in the work environment will help to guide the stakeholders involved in these changes. Keeping nurse practitioners, who are uniquely posited to assist in this transition satisfied, will be integral to keeping them in the workforce. A descriptive correlational design was used to explore the relationship between job satisfaction and interdisciplinary practice in nurse practitioners in Pennsylvania. The Misener Nurse Practitioner Job Satisfaction Scale and the Bronstein Index of Interdisciplinary Collaboration were the survey tools to measure the major study variables. The conceptual model that guided the study was developed by Koelble who modified Herzberg’s Dual-Factor Theory of Job Satisfaction. The survey was administered over the Internet and potential respondents were recruited by mailed postcard, which went to every sixth nurse practitioner on a mailing list purchased from the state board and through the listserv maintained by the Pennsylvania Coalition of Nurse Practitioners. There were 244 nurse practitioners who logged on to participate however; the inclusion criteria limited the sample to 190. Most were female, the majority had master’s degrees, and 16% had 20 or more years of experience as a nurse practitioner. The key findings of the study were that there is a strong positive relationship between nurse practitioners’ job satisfaction and the degree of interdisciplinary practice they reported. Overall, nurse practitioners in Pennsylvania were minimally dissatisfied to minimally satisfied with their positions. The areas of dissatisfaction have remained consistent over the last decade.