Two-factor theory has strong empirical evidence of validity

Factors affecting nurses' job satisfaction in rural and urban acute care settings: A PRISMA systematic review

AIMS

This review aimed to systematically assess the findings of primary studies to identify the factors associated with nurse job satisfaction in rural and urban contexts while analysing the findings according to Herzberg's theory.

BACKGROUND

While there is evidence linking several factors to nurses' job satisfaction, gaps still exist in understanding the differences between factors affecting job satisfaction for nurses working in rural and urban settings.

DESIGN

Systematic review with narrative summary.

DATA SOURCES

Six databases were used to identify original studies that discuss the factors associated with the nurse's job satisfaction between 1998-2018.

REVIEW METHODS

Two authors independently reviewed each study using the Joanna Briggs Institute's critical appraisal checklists. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement to report and examine the study biases systematically.

RESULTS

A total of 38 studies were selected for this review. Physical working environment and authority and freedom were the most frequently reported factors associated with nurses' job satisfaction. Several extrinsic, intrinsic, personal, and community factors were also found to be associated with nurses' job satisfaction. Urban studies tended to focus on extrinsic factors, whereas there was more balance between the two sets of factors in rural studies.

CONCLUSION

Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors play an essential role in nurses' job satisfaction. Future research should use more robust research methods and pay more attention to contrasting rural and urban contexts. Herzberg's theory can provide conceptual clarity when investigating the factors associated with nurses' job satisfaction.

IMPACT

This review discussed the factors associated with nurses' job satisfaction in rural and urban settings. The findings linked several extrinsic and intrinsic factors to nurses' job satisfaction. Nursing management should search for the perfect blend of intrinsic and extrinsic factors based on nurses' needs and organizational commitment to improve nurses' job satisfaction.

Maintenance of Safety Behaviors via Response-Produced Stimuli

Animal studies suggest that safety behaviors may be maintained by internally or externally produced safety signals, which function as positive reinforcers. We designed two experiments to test this phenomenon with humans. Participants played a computerized game in which they could earn or lose treasures by clicking on a map. In baseline, losses could be postponed by pressing a pedal that also produced a blue bar at the bottom of the screen. During test conditions, no losses were programmed, and pedal presses turned the bar from yellow to blue (Test 1) or blue to yellow (Test 2). In Experiment 2, new participants were exposed to the same conditions but were given information about the safety of the test environment. In both experiments, participants engaged in high rates of pedal pressing when presses were followed by blue bars, suggesting the bar functioned as a safety signal. We discuss how these findings may relate to safety behaviors commonly observed in certain mental health disorders.

Classical and instrumental conditioning of eyeblink responses in Wistar-Kyoto and Sprague-Dawley rats

Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, an animal model of anxiety vulnerability, acquire lever-press avoidance faster than outbred Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Faster avoidance acquisition may reflect an inherent ability to acquire cue-outcome associations, response-outcome associations or both. To evaluate cue-outcome learning, acquisition of classically conditioned eyeblink response was compared in SD and WKY rats using a delay-type paradigm (500-ms conditioned stimulus (CS) coterminating with a 10-ms unconditional stimulus (US)). WKY rats demonstrated enhanced classical conditioning, with both faster acquisition and greater asymptotic performance in delay-type training than SD rats. To evaluate response-outcome learning, separate SD and WKY rats were given control over US delivery through imposition of an omission contingency into delay-type training (emitting a conditioned response (CR) prevented delivery of the US). The schedule of US delivery derived by these rats became the training regimen for a separate group of SD and WKY rats, yoked within strain. In SD rats, no differences in acquisition were detected between those given control over US delivery and those trained with the same partial reinforcement schedule. Acquisition rates of those WKY rats with control exceeded those trained with a yoked-schedule of US presentation. Collectively, WKY rats exhibit enhanced classical conditioning and sensitivity to schedules of reinforcement compared to outbred SD rats. Anxiety vulnerability, in particular inhibited temperament, may be traced to active processes in the prediction and control of aversive events.