Effects of motivating and hygiene factors on job satisfaction among school health nurses

Due to the nursing shortage, it is critical that organizations employing school nurses address the issue of nursing recruitment and retention. The identified gap in the literature revealed limited research on motivating and hygiene factors and their influence on the level of job satisfaction for school nurses. Based on Herzberg's motivation-hygiene factor theory, this study set forth to answer the key research questions of the relationship of motivation and hygiene factors with job satisfaction and the influences demographic characteristics have on job satisfaction, motivation, and hygiene factors. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was utilized. 135 school nurses in a large public school system completed the Index for Work Satisfaction tool. The outcomes showed that school nurses were dissatisfied with their jobs; task requirements and professional status influenced overall job dissatisfaction; and autonomy had the most influence on job satisfaction; in addition, the nurses were satisfied with organizational policies and pay. With the dependant variable of job satisfaction, Pearson correlation revelaed significant positive associations with professional status (p= .025), pay (p=.000), and interaction with colleagues (p=.033). Organizational changes and job enhancement such as increased visability, improved staff development, and increased pay may improve job satisfaction among school nurses. The implication for social change is the provision of highly qualified school nurses in order to improve the health and well-being of school-age children.