Professional Values, Work Environment and Job Satisfaction Among Critical Care Nurses in Palestine: A Descriptive...

Area of Science:

• Nursing Research
• Healthcare Management
• Workplace Psychology

Background:

• Critical care nursing environments present unique challenges impacting job satisfaction.
• Factors such as professional values, staffing, ethical climate, workload, and burnout are crucial for nurse retention and patient safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate professional nursing values, perceived work environment, and job satisfaction among critical care nurses in Palestine.
• To understand the interrelationships between these factors in a specific healthcare context.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive cross-sectional study involving 263 critical care nurses across 15 hospitals in the West Bank.
• Convenience sampling with an 87.7% response rate.
• Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, and mediation analyses using SPSS 26.0, with job satisfaction as the primary dependent variable.

Main Results:

• Nurses reported strong professional values (116.25 ± 9.55), moderate work environment perceptions (2.42 ± 0.30), and moderate job satisfaction (89.17 ± 10.57).
• The work environment was the strongest predictor of job satisfaction (β = 0.576, p < 0.001).
• Workload (β = -0.166, p = 0.021) and intention to leave (β = -0.163, p < 0.001) negatively predicted job satisfaction, with the model explaining 47.4% of the variance. Significant indirect associations were found between professional values and job satisfaction via the work environment, and between the work environment and intention to leave via job satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Professional values indirectly influence job satisfaction through the work environment.
• High workload and intention to leave are linked to decreased job satisfaction.
• Recommendations include improving staffing, fostering collaboration, ensuring resources, monitoring workload, promoting shared decision-making, and implementing recognition systems for critical care nurses.