The relationship of hardiness to work satisfaction among critical care nurses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role that a stress-resistant characteristic, hardiness, might play in work satisfaction among critical care nurses. A descriptive correlational design was used to measure the relationship between hardiness and work satisfaction. A Demographic Information Form, the Personal Views Survey (measuring hardiness), and the Index of Work Satisfaction were completed by 109 full-time critical care staff nurses in three urban hospitals. The scores on the latter two instruments were correlated using Pearson's product-moment correlation. Correlation coefficients showed a weak relationship between hardiness and work satisfaction which strengthened when challenge, the functionally distinct part of hardiness, was removed. The relationship further strengthened when pay, a work satisfaction component which defied the normal distribution assumption, was eliminated from the work satisfaction score. Hardiness explained only 17.5% of the variance in work satisfaction indicating that more is involved in work satisfaction than possession of the appropriate personal characteristics. Future studies of the relationship between hardiness and work satisfaction should examine causality by including all the variables in the model (hardiness, working conditions, subjective stress, work satisfaction and work performance) in a longitudinal or path analysis design. Although the relationship between hardiness and work satisfaction has not yet been shown to be causal, increasing a sense of hardiness may improve work satisfaction among critical care nurses. Teaching them hardiness may improve retention and quality of care, and minimize grievances, absenteeism, and strikes. Other implications for nursing and recommendations for further research are presented.Applied Science, Faculty ofNursing, School ofGraduat