JOB-SATISFACTION OF NURSES EMPLOYED IN RURAL AND URBAN LONG-TERM-CAREFACILITIES

Previous investigators have identified residential differences in the job satisfaction of hospital nurses. However, the degree to which the greater job satisfaction of rural nurses can be generalized beyond hos pitals to other work settings, including nursing homes, is unknown. Th e purpose of this research was to examine the job satisfaction of nurs es (registered and licensed practical) employed in both rural and urba n nursing homes. A total of 281 nurses from 26 participating nursing h omes completed a mailed questionnaire that measured the personal and j ob-specific characteristics of the nurses and the contextual propertie s of the facilities in which they worked. The data indicated no statis tically significant differences in the overall job satisfaction, or on any of the five subscales of the instrument, between rural and urban nurses. However, a pooled multivariate model identified five factors t hat predicted the jab satisfaction of nurses employed in long-term car e facilities: the employees' race and personal income; the employees' perception that their supervisor was interested in their career aspira tions; the length of time that the nurses had intended to stay at the time of their hiring; and their current intent to leave. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.