Factors Related to Job Satisfaction and Retention of Staff Nurses Employed in a Southeast Rural Hospital

This study of 83 nurses in an 87-bed rural southeast Georgia hospital examines the relationships between personal characteristics, job-related characteristics, factors of job satisfaction, autonomy, and job retention. The nonexperimental descriptive survey findings indicate that personal characteristics (e.g., age, nursing education, marital status) do not provide strong predictors of job retention. Work satisfaction and autonomy correlated negatively with indicators of impending job change. The strongest negative correlation was between work satisfaction and intention to quit. Autonomy and intention to quit also demonstrated a significant negative correlation. The study concludes that of the variables studied, the most effective predictor of job retention in this sample population is work satisfaction