relationship between job satisfaction and organisational commitment among nurses

8/3/2019 relationship between job satisfaction and organisational commitment among nurses

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INTRODUCTION

In this systematic review, the author focuses to identify the relationship between the

job satisfaction and organisational commitment among nurses. As the health care

system is facing nursing staff shortage all over the world, this study aims to find out

the nature of the relationship between the organisational commitment and job

satisfaction. This study also focuses on the role of both these variables has on

nurses turnover rate. The relationship between the job satisfaction and the

organisational commitment has been an area of choice for many researchers.

Therefore, many researches are available on this topic. However, all those studies

have not gone deeply to identify the kind of relationship between these two variables.

The methodology that is used in this study is a systematic review. A systematic

review is a study in which the primary article about the selected relevant study

question, combine together to find an answer to the research question. According to

Saltikov (2010), systematic review is a particular type of study, which is otherwise

called a summary of the relevant researches to answer to a single question. In a

systematic review, the primary articles about the researchers area of interest is to

take a process of critical analysis and combine the information gathered from the

study together. The systematic literature review comprised of four different steps. In

each of these steps, the selected primary studies undergo a series of process. The

steps involved in the systematic literature review are in identifying the primary

researches to the research question, and then selecting the relevant researches.

The next two steps are appraisal and synthesis of data. (Saltikov, 2010).

The systematic review is focussed on synthesising high quality research evidences

through a series of processes. The primary article used in systematic review should

be of high quality. This indicates that the findings and methods used in that research

can be easily questioned by the secondary researcher. In this systematic review, the

selected researches are in high quality and, the findings and methods used in these

studies are clear and specific, which allows the researcher to get a high quality

result. This systematic review is based on peer review protocol.

Indeed, the job satisfactions among nurses are so important for the organisation in

the perspective of the quality of care provided. Job satisfaction is a broad term that isinfluenced by several factors. According to Saiyadain (2009), job satisfaction is a

psychological state in which an individual tend to say that I am satisfied with my

job. In other words, it can be explain that it is a persons positive feeling when a

given task has been achieved. Job satisfaction is a personal feeling which is

correlated by so many factors such as a work climate, nature of the work, persons

emotional status etc. Job satisfaction can also be described as the general attitude

of a person towards their work.

Job satisfaction has a particular importance in terms of an organisational

perspective. Studies suggest that the job satisfaction has been related to the


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turnover rate and absenteeism in an organisation. Moreover, it has a definite role in

the productivity of an organisation. Several studies suggest that when the employees

become more satisfied with his work, then the productivity goes up. Therefore, in the

perspective of an organisation in health care industry, the job satisfaction is a

significant factor because, if the workers in the health care organisation are notproductive, then the quality of care provided by the organisation will be compromised

and this will affect the name and productivity of the organisation badly.

Obviously, the commitment to the organisation is as important as the job satisfaction.

Nurses who shows high levels of job satisfaction also have high levels of

organisational commitment.(Doran & Almost,2003). Job satisfaction only focuses on

job, whereas the organisational commitment focuses on the commitment of the

individual towards the entire system of organisation. Organisational commitment

comes when the individuals in the organisation strongly identifies the organisational

values and goals (Mckenna,2000).There are two types of commitment which can beseen in an organisation. Affective and Continuance commitment. These two types of

commitments differ from each other. However, both these commitments are

necessary for the organisational perspective.

Aim of this study

This study mainly focuses on the recent primary researches dealt with the

relationship between nurses organisational commitment and job satisfaction. In

addition to this, the study also analyses the factors influencing the job satisfaction

and organisational commitment .The focus of this study is extended to the influenceon nurses turnover by these two variables.

Objectives of this study

*To critically review and explore the most recent primary research literatures about

the relationship between the job satisfaction and organisational commitment.

*Discuss the relevant themes that are formulated by the critical review of the

literature.

*To provide a better management views for the authorities of health careorganisation.

*To provide a platform for the further research studies.

Nursing shortage

A nurse has a pivotal role in health care sector. As they coordinate the activities of

different sectors of the health care system, maintain the quantity and quality of health

center, their care is very vital to the human society. Adequate number of nursing


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staffs are important to render quality nursing care. A shortage is the term used where

there is a disparity between the supply and demand. In other words, when the

demand exceeds the supply, then there is a shortage happening. There are many

reports saying that the world is facing a nursing shortage. Therefore, it is important to

check whether a real shortage is exists or not.

A nursing shortage can be described as a condition where the nurses supply and

demand is not at an equilibrium (Huber,2006).This circumstance can be viewed in

two aspects. This can be either due to a decrease in supply of the nurses all over

the world or an increase in demand which exceeds the current supply of the nursing

resources. The WHO(World Health Organisation) statement in 2006 clearly

estimates a 4.3 million nursing staff shortage across the countries (WHO,2006).In

addition, it also indicates that the shortage is severe in poorest countries of Africa.

These data put forward some serious concerns in the mind of the author. According

to WHO, the nursing personnel distribution in developed countries such as UnitedStates of America, United Kingdom and Canada is around 10 per 1000 population

(WHO, 2006).Even in this condition, these countries are facing severe nursing

shortage.

Indeed, there are nursing shortages existing in some developed countries. As per

the Bureau of Labour Statistics of United States of America, projected employment

in the nursing sector in 2018 is 3,200,200(BLS,2011).Whereas, the supply of working

force will be around 1,808,000( Bureau of Health Professions,2004).It is sure that the

overall figure of 1,808,000 future nursing work force is not going to fill the 3,200,200

vacancies. This disparity in the data from the two American health departmentsclearly shows that the current US nursing work force is not enough to meet the

health care needs of the American society. In order to meet the exceeding demands

for the nursing workforce, the country has to depend on other countries such as

India, South Africa, and Philippines etc. Obviously, nurses from these countries will

get attracted by the better living conditions and opportunities in the developed

countries and, these migrations will cause a shortage in the developing countries.

For example, the data from the Nursing Midwifery Council, UK, shows that 1020

Indian nurses were registered in the council in the year 2008(NMC,2008). Although

it looks like a negligible number, the importance can been seen when we comparethe nurse population ratio of both these countries. The nurse density per 1000

population in United Kingdom is 12.12, whereas in India, it is 0.80 (WHO, 2006).This

data shows that there is a large scale of difference in nurse-population ratio in these

countries. Even in this condition, a number of nurses keep migrating from India to

United Kingdom.

Obviously, a nursing shortage in the developed countries, with better living condition

and work atmosphere, leads the nurses to migrate from the place with less

satisfactory environment, especially from the developing countries. This migration

will be an extra burden for the health care sector in the developing countries, whichis already suffering from the lack of resources. For instance, almost 28% of the


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nurses in Jamaica are migrating to the developed countries each year (WHO, 2010)

which accounts for the countrys serious problems in terms of nursing human

resource. So, it would be beneficial if we look in to the major factors behind the

existing nursing shortage across the world.

Nursing shortage in the past seemed to be the disproportion of the need of the

health care sector and the difficulties faced by the health care organisations in

raising wages of the nurses and the willingness of the nurses to work with the less

wages they offered( Berliner & ginzberg;Goodin,2003). During the post world war

era, the Western countries especially USA, had to open more community health

centres, in order to meet the growing health care needs of the baby boom

generations. This was the main reason for the nursing shortage during the early

periods of the post World War years. In 70s and 80s,this shortage was fuelled by

nurses unwillingness to work with less pay and other working conditions Goodin

(2003).The current nursing shortage seems to be a combined effect of all thesefactors rather than being aggravated by a single factor. It would be beneficial, if we

link the theme chosen by the International Council for nurses day 2007 with the

current nursing shortage. The theme for the 2007 nurses day was Positive practice

environment: Quality work places= Quality care (ICN,2007).This gives us an

indication that the nurses are not satisfied with their work atmosphere. Many studies

suggests that the job satisfaction and organisational commitment are most influential

factors in working environment(*references******).This finding tends the author to

think that if the organisations take measures to improve job satisfaction and

organisational commitment among their nursing staff, they could retain the existing

staff in the profession and attracts more people in to the profession. Authors also

think, this could be a better approach rather than looking for a quick fix solution by

importing nursing work force from abroad.

NURSES JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction is a broadly defined term that has been subjected to several studies.

Hoppock defined job satisfaction as a physiological, psychological and

environmental circumstances that tend the person to feel satisfaction in his

job.(Saiyadain,2009).Job satisfaction has been subjected to many studies and it is

an area of interest for people who study about the organisational activities. Job

satisfaction among nurses is a very important element in retaining nursing workforce

as well as in resolving nursing shortage (Albaugh, 2005).

There are many factors that affect the job satisfaction among nurses. Herzberg

distinguished the factors affecting job satisfaction as intrinsic factors and extrinsic

factors. The intrinsic factors can be called as job satisfaction and extrinsic factors are

called job dissatisfaction. Intrinsic factors are linked with the experience and nature

of the persons way of doing work. It is termed as the motivators. It may include age,

gender, length of employment etc. (Wyatt &Harrison, 2010).These factors are clearpredictors of job satisfaction, so it is termed as motivators. On the other hand, the


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extrinsic factors are related to the job dissatisfaction. Extrinsic factors also called

hygienic factors. It may include the leadership style, manager employee relationship,

employee organisation relationship, pay, promotion etc. (Wyatt &Harrison, 2010).

According to Woodside, the factors determining the job satisfaction can be allocated

in to two groups; internal factors and external factors. Internal factors are within theindividuals environment. These factors include feeling of appreciation, perception

towards the job, sense of achievement etc. External factors are those influencing the

job satisfaction from individuals external environment. This tends to be more related

to the organization where the individual works. This factors include work place

setting, interpersonal relationship, career advancement, organisational policy,

leadership etc. The factors belongs to both these group are significantly affect the

individuals job satisfaction.

Factors affecting nurses job satisfaction are mainly related to individual and work

related environment .In a meta analysis conducted by Zangaro & Soeken, they founda number of factors that affect the nurses job satisfaction. This study found

autonomy, job stress and nurse-physician collaboration are the common variables

associated with the job satisfaction. It suggests that better autonomy, good

relationship with the physician together with less stress in the work place make the

nurses more satisfied with their job (Zangaro & Soeken, 2007). In another study

conducted by Gormley suggests that, the factors such as organisational

characteristics and organisational climate have minimal effect on nurses job

satisfaction .This study stresses that professional autonomy has a major role in

enhancing the job satisfaction level of a nurse (Gormley,2003).

Job satisfactions among nurses have a significant contribution in the current nursing

shortage. A survey conducted among nurses in two states of America suggests that

poor working condition, low pay and inadequate staff are the main reason for the

staff shortage in these two states(Massachusetts nurse,2002).As we discussed

earlier, these factors are associated with the individuals job satisfaction. Therefore,

we can assume that the lack of job satisfaction or the factors promoting job

satisfaction could be the nursing shortage in these areas. The more nurses are

satisfied in their job, the more chances to retain them in the profession. Since the

nursing turnover has a considerable role in the nursing shortage, it is beneficial tomake them stay in the profession. According to Wieck Et Al, the job satisfaction is a

good indicator of nurses turnover (Wieck Et Al,2009). Nurses with low job

satisfaction are more prone to leave the organisation. Internal factors and external

factors of job satisfaction have a greater role in the employee turnover and retention

rate. When an individual feels anxious, hostility, frustration and exhaustion, they

leave the organisation. When people feels strong level of autonomy and control,

sense of growth and development, they tends to remain in the profession

(West,2005).Therefore, in order to tackle the current nursing shortage, organisations

should give attention to raise the level of nurses job satisfaction.


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The term organizational commitment has wide variety of meaning. In simple way it

can be say that the loyalty of the employee towards the organization. Jackson and

Mathis defined the organizational commitment as the extent of employees believe

and acceptance about the organizational goals and values and his desire to be with

the organization.(Jackson & Mathis,2007).According to Robbins, organizationalcommitment is a state in which the employee identifies with a particular organisation

and its objectives and wishes to continue his membership in the same

organisation.(Robbins,2009). The most accepted concept about the organizational

commitment was made by midway Et Al. According to this concept, the individuals

identification with and involvement in the organization is characterized by individuals

strong belief and acceptance of the organisational goals and values, desire to put

considerable effort for the organisation, strong willingness to remain in the

organisation.( Zangaro,2001).

Organisational commitment can be explained in many dimensions. Penley &Goulddescribes organisational commitment in two dimensions. They are instrumental and

affective. The concept of instrumental commitment is related to the rewards and

system of compensation received by the individual for his achievement in the

organization. Whereas the affective view is quite different from the instrumental view

as it deals with the personnel aspect of the individual. Affective view relates to the

individuals emotional attachment towards the organisation and personnel

commitment to do his duty within the institution.( Zangaro,2001).Robbins put forward

three separate dimensions for the organisational commitment. According to Robbins,

the three dimensions such as affective, continuance and normative are the

significant dimensions for organizational commitment. In his view, the affective

dimension is the emotional attachment to the organization and trust in its value and

beliefs. Continuance commitment is the economic value for remaining in the

organisation and normative commitment is the moral or ethical commitment towards

the organisation.

One major thing that author found interesting in this research is the correlation

among the job satisfaction, organisational commitment and turnover rate in nursing

field. The year of experience a person have can be consider as a reflection of

individuals organisational commitment.(Chan et al 2008).At the same time,

experience is consider as an intrinsic factor in job satisfaction.(Wyatt &

Harrison,2010).A theoretical approach to explain the effect of experience on job

satisfaction put forwarded by Weiss & Cropanzano(1996).This theory is called as

work events theory.(Grube Et Al,2008).According to this theory the work environment

characteristics like autonomy and participation courses specific events. These

specific events combined with affective disposition of the person lead to positive or

negative affect at work. This experience directly or indirectly affects the work and

attitude towards the work by the employee. (Grube et al,2008). In a study to analysethe effectiveness of the spirit at work programme Kinjersky & Skrypnek (, 2008)


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found that the job satisfaction and organisational commitment of nurses raised after

the implementation of the particular programme. The pre-test mean of job

satisfaction was 69.7% and after test it was 76.4%.Pre test mean of organisational

commitment was 47.2% and later it became 49.7%.(Kinjersky & Skrypnek,2008).This

finding put forward some questions in authors mind that whether the predictors of jobsatisfaction and organisational commitment are same? Are they lead by the same

factors?

The focus of this chapter is on the methods used in conducting systematic review of

literature. The methodology used here is systematic review of literature which is a

type of secondary study. A systematic review can be described as a route of

discovering, knowing and evaluating the existing research to a particular area of

interest or a question. The studies used here are primary. This systematic review

aims to answer the formulated research question. My study is a systematic review to

evaluate the effectiveness of nurses job satisfaction over organizationalcommitment. A systematic review appraise, summarise and synthesise the large

number of research findings (Mc Innes,2009).The systematic review process

involves identifying, selecting, appraising and synthesising the high quality

evidences in an attempt to seek answer to the research question. As it combines the

various research findings together on a same topic, it has got a particular attention in

the health care sector. The synthesis of the significant evidences from the relevant

primary researches enable the reader to get a cumulative view of the issue that

reader looking for(Houde,2009).

There are several background factors to choose systematic review as the mode ofstudy in this research. One of the reason is it allows checking of consistency

(torgerson, 2003).This enable the researcher to provide a most reliable result about

the research issue. It is necessary to have reliability and consistency in studies in the

medical field.Becouse it deals with human beings. The inconsistent and less reliable

result may lead to wrong practices. Systematic review can be replicate easily

(Saltikov, 2010).In addition to that, it is easy to scrutinize those studies using

systematic review as their method. In this subject, the author has another choice as

well. The author can be use literature review as a method of study. As this research

subject deals with a sensitive issue, it should be free from bias. A literature review isconducted of a researchers area of choice and preference.Therefor; it is vulnerable

to the potential bias. For example, if a researcher believes regular intake of aspirin

can reduce the risk of myocardial infarction, he prefers to choose the studies that

share his view. This could result in personnel bias in the study. In addition to this,

literature reviews do not set search criteria and there is no specific questions for this

type of studiesSaltikov,2010).On the other hand, systematic review follows a

rigorous search strategy ,in order to avoid bias(Saltikov,2010).So that the researcher

could get a more valid and reliable result.

STAGES OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEW


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A systematic review process includes many steps. The process is structurally similar

to the primary research. Systematic review adopts five steps in the research

process. The first step in the systematic review is the formation of the research

question. The review question formed on the basis of the PICO elements (Saltikov,

2010). This includes Population, Intervention, Comparative intervention andOutcome. PICO has a major role in conducting systematic review. The significance

of the PICO is that it determines the nature of the article included in the

study.(Saltikov,2010).Moreover, it can guide the researcher through each and every

phase of the research. It aides from the selection of the article till the interpretation of

the results. The search of literature starts with hundreds of literature, the PICO

strategy helps the researcher to carry out his literature search in an organized

manner. In this study, the PICO criteria helped the author to retrieve and scrutinize

only the relevant literatures. The second stage in systematic review is the finding of

the research studies. This face includes the collection of best available information

from various data sources (Glasziou et al, 2001).In order to maintain a uniform

quality of the research studies, the systematic review needs a quality appraisal of the

studies. This is the third phase of the study. This phase helps to avoid potential bias

in the study. Quality of the selected studies will determine the outcome of the

systematic review. Checking the validity and reliability is an important part in the

systematic review studies. It is important in the context that the systematic review is

based on the peer review protocoal.Peer reviews does not assure the validity of the

selected studies (Saltikov, 2010). The critical appraisal has to do with the standard

and scientific appraisal tool. Systematic review chooses variety of tools in examining

the primary study and to check the reliability and validity. The selected tools areHow to read a paper: papers that summarize other papers(Greenhalgs, 1997),

National Health Service in UK 10 questions to help you make sense of review

(Jadad, Mohar et al, 1998). It is obvious that the tools used for this study is

insufficient and did not measure the reliability and validity (Pearson, 2004).

Systematic review has three different stages for vital analysis. The importance of the

topic must be clearly specified in order to recognize the issues and for a valuable

search to the selected topic. The next stage involves the summary and synthesis of

the selected data. This stage is useful to make quality decisions on the basis of high

quality evidences. The final stage is meant to assess the applicability of the

research. This stage ensure that whether the synthesised result is applicable or not

(Glasziou et al, 2001).

ADVANTAGES OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

There are many advantages for systematic review. Some primary researches include

very small sample population, therefore, they may lack generalisability and it is very

difficult to find modest effect from these studies. Systematic review combines all

these studies and gets a cumulative result. As it combine many studies together,

systematic review assures more statistical power. So that it can assess even the

least significant variable as well.Also,it make sure the consistency of the


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result(Glasziou et al,2001).Analysing the same effect in various settings allows

transferability and robustness .This is another significant advantage of systematic

review(Glasziou et al,2001).

DISADVANTAGES OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Systematic review has disadvantages too. Even the small bias in the primary

research can be magnified by systematic review (Glasziou et al, 2001).This can

influence the research outcome adversely. In addition to this, there is a risk of bias.

The authors tendency to accept positive and interesting result can lead to bias in

systematic review. As a result the study may lose the generalisability over the

subject(Hoffmann et al,2009).Moreover, if the quality appraisal is not done in a

proper manner, it can lead to the inclusion of the poor quality of researches in the

study and cause subsequent bias in the study(Hoffmann et al,2009).

SEARCH METHODS

The selection of literature was through the electronic database of the Bedfordshire

University which includes MEDLINE, CINHAL, AMED, Psych Info, Pub Med,

Embase, and Cochrane library. Many keywords were used to filter the electronic

journals for example, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, nurses etc. These

key words were used in a variety of settings and contexts. Efficient use of such terms

resulted in identifying suitable materials. The help from the librarian was

unforgettable; he showed the route for getting relevant database. During the review

process, a huge number of articles were found. Only those studies from the year

2000 to 2010 were included in order to get recent update. The search found

literature from various countries around the globe.

Setting inclusion / exclusion criteria

The scope of the review is mainly determined by the available resources and

formulated question. So it is necessary to set the inclusion and exclusion criteria

to identify the terms of boundaries of the review. The setting of inclusive and

exclusive criteria also accounts for the wide usage of the findings, so it should be

clearly specified.

Inclusive criteria

The research studies which dealt with nurses job satisfaction and organizational

commitment were included. While selecting review of literature only primary

studies conducted worldwide were taken. Primary source of chosen was English.

It was then processed by filtering the titles and abstracts and removing the

irrelevant and inappropriate ones. All the studies related with the topic were

taken if suitable including randomized controlled trials, non randomized controlled

trials, and other study designs: qualitative and quantitative studies investigating

nurses job satisfaction and organizational commitment.


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Exclusive criteria

All the secondary researches were eliminated from the study. Apart from that the

studies which are not specifying the study design were excluded. Articles

published before the year 2000 also excluded from the study. Editorials, reviews

also eliminated from this study.

The available resources were properly utilized including websites which provide

valuable data from recent conferences. A vast area of search was undertaken

using search engines, seeking advices from colleagues with experience in the

nursing field and analyzing the reference list from selected research studies. The

aim was to identify relevant research work that finds papers reporting expert

opinion and to avoid accidental omission suitable studies. The study that was

obtained was a result of vigorous effort and critically analyzing the available

literature that dealt with job satisfaction and organizational commitment of nurses.

After that all the significant research studies and guidance papers were then

interpret in full and analyzed / appraised as apt for the study. There were many

studies and reviews which cover o huge range of research questions and issues

regarding job satisfaction and organizational commitment, in particular

randomized controlled trials which aim to illustrate the experience of job

satisfaction in respect to organizational commitment of nurses working in a

variety of settings. Only studies that had direct relation with the selected topic

were included and others were excluded from the review. Finally ten studies were

taken that directly suite to the topic.

Quality Appraisal:

The research study was analyzed from different angles and checked under

different headings such as authors name, year of publication, where the research

was conducted. Independent review of the research articles was done and the

outcome was evaluated. The qualitative studies were evaluated to check the

strength and weakness using the question devised by Schneider (2004).The

quantitative study was evaluated by Schneiders ten questions. Some

shortcomings were observed in a few studies. Researches with inadequate

information were discarded. Only those studies which meet two out of threecriteria according to Schneiders (2004) questions were included and all others

were excluded. After doing all the filtration process 10 studies were selected.

Quality appraisal questions (Schneider, 2004)

Questions for qualitative study were

Whether the aim and objective were clearly explained in the study?

Was the strategies and data collection tool used suite to the research

question?

Was the confidentiality of the information provided maintained?


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Which methods were employed in choosing samples for the study?

Did the researcher demonstrate the method chosen for data analysis?

Did the researcher recognize the limitations of the study?

Has the researcher properly described the bias like participant number,

discrimination and impartiality?

Questions for the quantitative studies were

What were the methods chosen by the research to find the sample size?

Did the aim and objectives related to the study clearly explained?

Whether the sample size was appropriate for the study?

What method was used for the study analysis?

How was the statistical data analyzed?

Were the results of the study completely understood and clearly stated?

Did the researcher identify the limitations of the study?

Were the available data useful for further studies?

ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY

STUDY 1

This study was conducted by Medley and Larochelle. The main objective of this study is to find out

the relationship between the head nurses leadership style and staff nurses job satisfaction .More

specifically, this study is to identify the effectiveness of the transactional and transformationalleadership styles among staff nurse. This study is in the context of a growing nursing shortage in the

health care system.

The main research question addressed in this study were, 1)the extent of which the nurse distinguish

the transactional and transformational leadership behaviours in the head nurse,2)The relationship of

nurses job satisfaction and leadership style. This study is a primary research. The samples used in

this study are nurses from four different hospitals. The samples were taken by using random

sampling method. The samples included in this study were taken after being met certain set criteria.

Criteria used in this study to include the samples were, staff nurse in a clinical unit , working under a

head nurse. In order to collect the data, questionnaires were used. The knowledge of the staff nurseabout the type of leadership style possessed by their head nurse is determined by using a 70 item

multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ).Leadership behaviour of the head nurse perceived by

the staff nurse is assessed by using a 4point linker scale.

Indeed, not all research issues can be dealt with the experimental designs. The studies involving

human characteristics are not subjected to experimental manipulation (Polit &Beck, 2004).This study

are about the effect of leadership characteristics and its relationship with the job satisfaction. As

these variables cannot be measured by an experimental design, a non experimental approach was

the suitable design for this type of study. This study used a non experimental design. By considering

the above mentioned facts, it was fine to conduct a non experimental study in this kind of topic. Selfassessed questionnaires are used in this study to collect data. Questionnaires are widely used data


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collection method. Questionnaires enable the researcher to conduct study in a large group within a

short period (Mitchell& jolly, 2009).This data collection method is suits for this kind of study. The

reason is that the research questions posed in this study were dealing with the knowledge and

attitudes of the staff nurse about the leadership style of their head nurse, it also dealt with the

relationship of job satisfaction and leadership style. According to Polit & Beck, the survey is designed

to gain information about the distribution, prevalence and interrelations of variables within the

population (Polit & Beck, 2004). Therefore, in this study, the questionnaire survey is the most

reliable data collection method, which can bring the accurate result. In addition to this, sensitive

nature of the data required for this study need to maintain anonymity. Self administered

questionnaire survey often allows anonymity (Mitchell& jolly, 2009).This may also tends the authors

of this study to choose questionnaire survey as their method of data collection. However, some

disadvantages of questionnaire survey are also evident in this study. According to Mitchell & Jolly,

one of the main drawbacks of questionnaire survey is its low return rate because, a number of

people may not be typical for the study, this will ultimately results in a biased sample

(Mitchell&jolly,2009;baraceros,2000) .This finding is true in this study. Among the 278 people in thesample, only 122 were returned the questionnaire completed. Although it seems a low return rate,

those who returned the questionnaire might be interested to participate in the study. They are more

likely to be good informant for the study. However, a small sample size is not healthy for a

descriptive study like this. The reason is, it is dealing with multiple variables. The subject response to

the main variables in the study can significantly influenced by the extraneous variables. In addition,

it will not be possible to carry out a statistical comparison between the sub group, if the sample size

is small (Grove & Burns, 2005). These drawbacks prevent this study to look in to the study more

specifically.

STUDY 2

This study was conducted by Cummings Et Al. Main objective behind this study is to find out the

relationship between the nursing leadership and job satisfaction in the Canadian oncology work

environment. This study is in the background of increasing sick leaves and work related stress among

the nurses working in the oncology ward.

The area of focus of this study is to find out the work environmental factors that affect the job

satisfaction of the oncology nurse. This study used a descriptive, prospective research design to

survey the Canadian nurses working in the oncology ward. As this is descriptive study, it examines

the features of the work environment on job satisfaction. Many of the descriptive studies uses

survey as their method of design (Houser, 2007).This study also followed the same process. The

survey conducted twice in a two year period. The sample group is selected from the registered

nurses those providing direct care to the cancer patient in clinical setting as well as in the

ambulatory clinical service. The data collected through mailing self reported questionnaire. The

questionnaire consist of three different sections. Questions regarding the demography, work

environment characteristics, job satisfaction, and intent to leave were allocated separately in these

sections. A four point linker scale is used to gather data regarding the work environment

characteristics. Although it is a useful tool in situations need comparison, there are some limitations

too. This tool fails to find the depth of the respondents opinion(Kothari,2008).For example, a

question about how nurses view autonomy in the work place, the linker scale can only describewhether they are more or less favourable to that particular issue. This tool has a limitation to find


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out how much less or favour nurses to this issue. This will prevent the researcher to look in to the

depth of the issue more specifically. The major finding of this study is that there is a significant

relationship between the leadership and nurses job satisfaction. According to this study, nurses job

satisfaction is directly related to the positive physician relationship, clear organisational philosophy,

adequate staffing, nursing autonomy in important care decisions. However, this findings cannot be

consider as a overall reflection from the nurse because, this study was conducted only among nurses

in Oncology speciality. Their perception about autonomy in ward may be different from the nurses in

other sectors of the health care field .It would have been better, if this study focuses on the nurses

from a particular region, rather than looking in to the nurses in a particular speciality. So that, we

can get an overall view of nurses perception towards the work environment characteristics and job

satisfaction.

Study 3

This study was conducted by Carol S Wiesman, Cheryl S Alexander and Gary S Chase. The main

objective of this study was to find out the job satisfaction and independent variables that

determines the job satisfaction among the nurses in two different hospitals. This study found that

the autonomy and task delegation predicts job satisfaction strongly. This study also suggests that the

nurses own characteristics can predict job satisfaction more specifically than the structural

characteristics of the nursing unit and the job characteristics.

This study was conducted among the hospital staff nurses at two university hospital in a

metropolitan area. The samples were taken from 105 different areas of the hospitals including all

major area. The data were taken from three different ways. Some data, such as daily activity reports

collected from the hospital documents. While the data about the nursing care policy of the

organisation and structural features of the organisation were obtained from the head nurses report.

Nurses perception towards the job satisfaction elements, job, work environment and nurses

demographic features were collected using interview method.

This study used two different hospitals. This approach enables the researchers to carry out the study

in a large population. As this study dealing with several variables, it is feasible to have a large

sample. This view is supported by Rubin & Babbie. According to them it is essential to have a large

sample, whenever the variables analysed simultaneously (Rubin & Babbie, 2009).Data collection

through documents has many advantages. The first and most important advantage is it is

economical. Hospital documents gives us information over the periods (Polit & Beck,2004).However,

there is a need to look in to the disadvantages too. It is necessary to verify the authorship, accuracy

of such document .It will be difficult if the studies are old.( Polit & Beck,2004).However, in this study,

the researchers did not mentioned about the reliability of the data collected through hospital

documents. This may affect the result negatively.

While comparing the data from the two hospitals, autonomy is evolved as the strongest predictor of

job satisfaction in one hospital and second in other hospital. This may be due to the difference in the

organisational policy. Nurses in the hospital, where the autonomy is the second most predictor of

job satisfaction may get more freedom in clinical decision making than the other. Internal

characteristics of the individual are ranked second most predictor in one hospital and third in the

other. Although there is a marginal difference in the priority of the variables that predict job


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satisfaction between these two hospitals, the study re instate the importance of these variables in

predicting job satisfaction.

Study 4

This study was conducted by Ahamed .S. Al Ameri. The main intention of this study was to examinethe extent to which the nurses in the public health sector are satisfied with their profession and their

level of commitment to the organisation. In addition to this, the study also examines the relationship

between the job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The samples were taken from

different hospitals in the public sector across the country. Two hundred and ninety nursing staffs

were participated in the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data from these samples.

Off the 400 questionnaire sent for this study, 290 only returned. This low return rate is common in

survey method. Mitchell & jolly consider the low return rate is one of the main drawbacks of the

survey method. However, in this case, the sample response is considerably good. The researchers

got almost 70% responses. It can be consider as good response. It has to be clarify that the sample isfree from bias. When the sample size is too homogeneous, sampling bias can be

occur(Houser,2007).In this study, among the 290 sample size,220 are females, of that 150

married,84 singles,26 divorced and 25 widowed. Though the sample looks like a homogeneous

sample in terms of large female participants that was not a significant issue in this study. Considering

the fact that nursing is a female dominant profession, the over participants from the female

population is not a significant problem.

The study found that the mean of job satisfaction among the nurses in the public hospital is 3.67,

which is reasonable well score. It suggests that the majority of the nurses are satisfied with their job.

The mean of organisational commitment is 4.87; also indicate the nurses are strongly committed tothe organisation. This study also found that the correlation coefficient between job satisfaction and

organisational commitment is 0.59.A number which indicates the strength of relationship between

two variable is called the correlation coefficient (Plotnik & Kougoumdjian, 2010).The study found no

significant relationship between the job satisfaction and other demographic variables.

All together, this study conducted in a reasonable well manner by using appropriate methods for

data collection and analysis. The study findings were in line with the findings of other studies

conducted in the same area.

Study 5

This study was conducted by Hsien Ho Et Al .The main purpose of this study was to identify the

impact of role stress on job satisfaction and organisational commitment among nurses. It also

focuses on whether the job rotation system helps the staff nurse to get more information regarding

the organisational policy and views, thereby increasing the job satisfaction and organisational

commitment consequently encourage them to stay in the organisation. This study was conducted in

Taiwan.

The method used to collect data in this study is a questionnaire. Since the main purpose of this study

was to examine the effect of job stress, questionnaire is the most suitable method for this study.

According to Parahoo, questionnaires are often used to examine the attributes, relationships,

patterns, trends, between the variables (Parahoo,).The samples were selected from two large


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hospitals in southern Taiwan. One of the main demerit of the questionnaire survey is it often get low

response rate. However, this study has got a good response rate from the samples. Among the 650

questionnaires sent, 532 valid copes were returned, which shows a return rate of more than 80%.In

this study, data analysis was done by using SPSS 11.0 and LISREL 8.54.These types of data analysis

methods are a kind of structural equation modelling techniques (Smart, 1997).Though the study has

got so many advantages like this, the selection of the sample is a noticeable deficit of this study.

Although the sample size was considerably good, the selection was homogeneous. The sample were

selected from only a particular region of Taiwan. This can lead to sample errors. Sample errors

happens when the sample not representing the entire study population(Andrew,2011).The sample

selected in this study does not represent the entire study population, therefore it will not reflect the

nature of the entire population.

The study findings suggests that the job satisfaction and organisational commitment positively

influenced by the job rotation. The correlation variance is 0.51 and 0.46 respectively. In addition to

this, study found that the job satisfaction and organisational commitment are significantly related to

each other (0.63).On the other hand, the job stress has a negative influence on the job satisfaction

and organisational commitment (-0.79 & -0.52).

On the basis of statistical findings researchers could explore the correlation of job rotation

among staff nurses with job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Here researchers

also explore the positive influence of job satisfaction on organisational commitment.

However the main limitations noticed here are the sample selection, here researchers select

nurses from a single country, the data collection tool was questionnaire it have its own

validity and reliability. Also the study carried out in a one time period.

STUDY 6

This study was conducted by Ru Liu & Yu Cheng. The main aim of this study was to find out

the relationship between the three variables such as intention to leave, organisational

climate and organisational commitment. This study also looks in to the demographic

differences among these variables and mediating role of organisational commitment

between the organisational commitment and organisational climate. This study is a cross

sectional study and used a descriptive design.

The samples were taken from the eight hospitals across southern Taiwan. Questionnaires

were used to collect the data. Questionnaires were distributed among 612 participants and

486 valid returns were taken for the study. This study opted for a strong valid method for

the study design and data collection. A descriptive design is useful to study the things

happening in the real life situations (Drummond & Campling, 1998).According to the nature

of the study, a descriptive design is very much suitable for this study. In addition, the

questionnaire used in this study is suits with both the study type and in terms of the sample

size. Questionnaire are often used to collect datas for descriptive studies (Wood

&Kerr,2010).The reason is not just because of the cost effectiveness of the questionnaires,

more, it provides a wide range of coverage, so that the researcher can conduct study in a


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large population(Singh,2007).This study dealing with multiple variables. The studies include

multiple variables requires large sample (Burns & Grove, 2005).Therefore, it is feasible to

use questionnaire survey in this kind of study. Moreover, this study overcame the major

drawback of questionnaire survey in the form of good response from the participants. This is

also an advantage of this study.

However, there are some limitations too. The participants were taken from a southern

region of Taiwan, therefore; this study could not include the nursing population across the

country. So that it lacks generic ability. It could also lead to sampling errors and bias. This

would have been a better study, if the sample includes populations from other parts of the

country.

This study found that the organisational climate is significantly related to the organisational

commitment .The mean between these two variables are 0.57.There is a negative

association between the organisational climate and intention to leave. The mean between

these is -0.40.This finding is important in an organisational perspective, where the nursing

turnover is at high.

All together, this study is conducted in a well manner, using appropriate design and data

collection instrument. Though, the study lack generic ability, the findings of the study can

applicable to health care organisations in the other parts of the world.

Study 7

This study was conducted by Ahmed& Oranye. The main objective of this study is to assess

the relationship between the nurses job satisfaction, empowerment and organisational

commitment among the nurses in two different societies. The method used in this study is a

descriptive correlation survey. The samples were 556 registered nurses from two teaching

hospitals in these two countries.

The world has now facing nursing shortage. There are many study suggesting that, in order

to retain nurses, the job satisfaction and organisational commitment must be

improved.(REFERENCES******)Therefore the intention of this study is significant in the

current situation of the nursing field. As the studys main aim is to examine the relationshipbetween the job satisfaction, organisational commitment and nurses empowerment, the

method used in this study is well fit to the objective. The descriptive correlation studies are

used when the situation needs to describe the relationship between the variables (Polit

&Beck, 2004).Simple random sampling method was used to select the participants in this

study. Although, this method brings a good result for the study, the suitability of this

sampling method has to analyse. Though the samples selected in this study are from the

same professional background, culturally and geographically, they are different. This makes

this sample more homogenous than heterogeneous. When an individual or group is

different from each other in a significant aspect, then it can be consider as a heterogeneous


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sample. Simple random sampling may not be a suitable method, when the sample is

heterogeneous in nature(Antonysamy Et Al,2010).In addition ,in this study, the samples

were from geographically different are, which might made the data collection hard. The

questionnaire in this study constituted four scales. The structural empowerment scale was

used to measure the nurses structural empowerment .Five point linker scale were used torate the item. Psychological empowerment scale used to measure the nurses view towards

the psychological empowerment in their work place. Seven point linker scales was used to

rate items in this situation. The researchers justified the usage of these scales satisfactorily.

The study has got ethical approval from the university of Sheffield ethical committee,

directors of the two hospitals and NHS. The collected data were analysed by using SPSS

software.

The study shows a significant similarity in the demographic features of the two groups. Even

though, the job satisfaction, commitment and empowerment are different in both thegroup. The study suggests that the demographic features such as age, experience, education

are associated with the job satisfaction, commitment and organisational commitment.

Despite some drawbacks of sample selection, this study conducted in a well manner. The

researcher could give some more attention while selecting samples and sampling method.

However, this study has some positive finding which helps the profession to develop

further.

Study 8

This study was conducted by Ching Sheng Chang and HsinHsin Chang. The main purpose

of this study is to examine the nurses view towards the internal marketing, job satisfaction

and organisational commitment. This study was conducted in southern Taiwan .The samples

selected in this study were taken from the two medical centres in southern Taiwan.

In this study, questionnaires were used to collect data from the samples. The questionnaires

formulated after a detailed review of literature and discussion with the experts. This can be

considering as one of the main advantage of this study. This approach will ensure the

validity of the questionnaire. A pilot study also conducted to avoid invalid items from the

questionnaire. This approach would help the researchers to measure the correlations

effectively. It is useful to conduct a pilot study before the intervention. Small scale study

before the actual intervention helps the researcher to measure the feasibility of the

proposed study and to make sure that the research approach is well enough to bring the

desired outcome (Polit &Beck, 2004).Among the 450 questionnaires distributed, 318 were

completed and returned, and of that 18 were incomplete, therefore excluded from the

study. Even then, the study had 300 questionnaires, which is a reasonable well response.

The data analysis was done by using analysis software SPSS11.0 and LISREL8.50.Structural

equation model was used to analyse the relationship between the three variables, job

satisfaction, internal marketing and organisational commitment.


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Though the study has got many advantages, it could not maintain the general ability of the

sample. The samples were taken from a particular region of the Taiwan so that, it could not

bring the overall reflection of the nursing population in Taiwan. Demographical

characteristics, such as culture, education may be different in this region compared to other

parts of the Taiwan. So, nurses from that area may have different opinion about the issueshandled in this study. Researchers in this study could participate with the nurses from the

other region as well so that; they could ascertain the general ability of the sample.

The data analysis reveals that the path coefficient between the variables job satisfaction and

organisational commitment is 0.56, which suggests a significant relationship. The study

findings also support the positive relationship of internal marketing with the organisational

commitment and that of the job satisfaction .However, this findings not reflecting the entire

nursing population as it contain samples from a particular region only.

In general, this study adopted a proper design and instruments to carry out the research.

However, the limitations of selecting a suitable sample prevent this study to draw a general

reflection.

Study 10

This study was conducted by Al Hussami. In this study, the researcher intent to examine the

multiple correlation between the job satisfaction, transformational leadership behaviour,

perceived organisational support and the level of education on organisational commitment.

The study was conducted in four nursing homes in the south eastern USA. The study

population includes a vast number of white Hispanic, black non Hispanic and Hispanic.

The method used in this study was multiple regression analysis. According to the nature of

the study, the selected study design is a suitable one. This study examine the correlation

between the job satisfaction, level of education, transformational leadership and perceived

organisational support on organisational commitment. When the correlation between the

two variables are not clearly perfect, the researchers attempt to enhance the prediction by

adding more than one independent variable. Multiple regression is applied in these

circumstances(Polit &Beck,2004).This study attempts to find the correlation between one

dependant variable with four dependant variable. Therefore, the selected study method is

appropriate to the aim of the study. By adopting this method, the researcher do not need to

apply separate analysis for the each independent variable(Andrew et al,2009).The

participants in the study were taken randomly from the four nursing homes. The researcher

chooses simple random sampling for the sample selection.15 participants were taken from

each nursing home. Although the sample has taken in a systematic manner, there is a

concern about the sample size. Number of participants in this study is 60. Though, it looks

like a low number of participants, it is sufficient enough for the study. In multiple regression

studies, the sample size is calculated according to the number of predictors(Andrew et

al,2011).The ratio for the sample size in multiple regression study is 15 :1,that is,15 samples


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for 1 predictor(Andrew et al,2011).This study has got four predictors. So, the required

sample size is 60.The number of participants in this study also 60.Therefor,the study has got

sufficient sample size to conduct a multiple regression analysis. It is evident from the

research that the researcher gave special care to maintain the anonymity of the participants

in the study. So that we can assume that the researcher had been taken the ethical issues into consideration.

However, a descriptive research method would be more suitable for the study population.

Since the most of the studies in nursing uses descriptive method(Polit & Beck,2004),it would

be better to reflect the relationship among the variables in this study by using descriptive

research. Moreover, a descriptive method allows the researcher to include more

participants, so that the study could get a general ability of the matter.

Pearsons product moment coefficients were used in this study to measure the relationship

between the dependant and independent variables. A multiple regression analysis also used

to measure the predictive values of job satisfaction, level of education, perceived

organisational behaviour on organisational commitment. The study found that the

perceived organisational support and transformational leadership is associated with the

organisational commitment. The high scores of these two independent variables related to

the dependant variable, organisational commitment. Study also found that the correlation

between the level of education and organisational commitment is positive. Multiple

regression analysis also reveals that the four independent variables are strongly related to

the organisational commitment. These findings are very significant in an organisational

perspective.

Overall, this study has met all the criterias in the quality appraisal tool .It has got a good

design, and data collection and analysis methods were well fit for the study design and the

objectives of the study. The findings of the study are useful in the organisational and

professional perspective of the nursing.

STUDY 11

This study was conducted by Mcneese smith in the year 2001.This study was conducted in

the context of the nursing shortage.The main purpose of this study was to find out the

determinant factors of the nurses commitment and non commitment to the organisation

they are working.Semi structured interviews were used as the method of data collection for

this study.

The samples of this study was taken from the los angelos county hospital.Thirty nurses were

selected for this study from various departments such as obstetrics,paediatrics,medical ,

surgical and intensive care unit.Of the 30 participants,28 were females.Almost 60 percent of

the participants were Filipinos,20 percent were Asians and the rest shared between

coucassians,afro Americans.The over representation of Filipino nurses can lead to sample


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bias. In this 60 % of the participants are Filipino nurses. These nurses from different

educational, cultural, and geographical area can have a different perception towards the

issue that the study deals. So, this over representation can have a negative impact on the

study result. Systematic over representation of the one segment of the sample refers to

sample bias (Polit & Beck, 2004).The interview questions were formed on the basis of theprevious research and expert suggestions.

This study found nine factors that affect the organisational commitment. This study

identified personal factors, job satisfaction, opportunities for learning, monetary benefits,

co workers, patient care, job security as the factors that affect the organisational

commitment of the nurses.

Despite the limitations of sample bias and sample size, this study organised reasonably well

manner. The aim and objectives of the study is well stated and proper data collection

methods and design is used.

STUDY 12

This study was conducted by Morgan & Lynn in the year 2009.This study was in the context

of nursing shortage that US face at present. The main purpose of the study was to

determine how nurses are satisfying at their workplace. Semi structured interviews are used

to collect data from the participants.

Data were collected from 20 nurses and each interview was recorded. The interview took

about 25 to 60 minutes. The study method selected in this research is well suits with the

aims and objectives of the study. Semi structured interviews are very useful for the

exploratory type research (Bless et al, 2006).As the main aim of this study is to determine

the nurses perception about the satisfying work atmosphere, semi structured interview

enable the researcher to explore more effectively and to get a detailed view from the

respondents (Bless et al, 2006).Content analysis was used to identify and relate themes

from the participants response. A content analysis means coding and ordering the textual

data Newell &Burnard, 2006).The data analysis was done by using NUD*IST 0.4 software.

The data coded according to the themes.

The study found that the nurses attitude towards the satisfiers of job has changed over the

years. The factor that was considered the job satisfiers such as pay and benefits are not

bothering the current nurses. They consider autonomy as the major job satisfier. Prior to the

data collection process, the researchers ensured to get the informed consent from the

participants and they protected the anonymity of the participants.

In general, the study could bring some valuable points to the nurses job satisfiers at their

work place. These findings will be valuable from the nurse managers point of view. The data

collection method and study design is used according to the aims and objectives of thestudy.


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STUDY 13

This study was conducted by Peter loke and John Crawford in the year 1999.The main

purpose of this study is to assess the dynamics of the relationship between the

organisational culuture, organisational sub culture and organisational commitment. This

study also assesses the relationship of these variables with the leadership style, job

satisfaction and individual characteristics such as level of education, age etc.

The samples in this study were taken from 7 large hospitals in Sydney. The hospitals include

general, private and psychiatric specialities. A questionnaire survey was used to obtain the

datas from the participants. Four established scales were used in this study as survey

instrument. Wallachs organisational cultural index, stogdills leader behaviour description

questionnaire, mowday et al job commitment survey, Mueller and Mcloskys job satisfaction

scale were the instrument scales. One of the main advantages of this study was the sample

selection .The samples were selected from seven different hospitals of various specialities.

This enables the researcher to get a broad view of different hospital environment. This

approach gave the researcher to ensure the heterogenesity of the sample. The studies

include survey questionnaire requires large sample size.Becouse these studies often need

comparison between multiple variables. In addition, it requires comparison of various sub

groups in the sample (Burns & Grove,2005).Therefore a large sample will give more

opportunity for the researcher to bring the desired outcome. This study has got a large

sample size, and the researchers tried to maintain the heterogeneous nature of the sample

by opting different hospitals. Among the 398 samples distributed, 258 were completed and

returned. This is a good response rate.

DISCUSSION

Theme 1

There is a positive relationship between job satisfaction and organisational

commitment

Most of the study selected in this systematic review suggests that there is a

relationship between the job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Here,author trying to identify whether it is a positive or negative relationship between

these two variables. Majority of the studies scrutinized here clearly define that there

is a positive relationship between the job satisfaction and organisational

commitment. This indicate that when the individual feels satisfaction in his job, that

will ultimately lead to the improvement in organisational commitment.

Study about the effectiveness of internal marketing on job satisfaction and

organisational commitment could explain more authoritatively about the positive

relationship between job satisfaction and organisational commitment. This study

conducted in southern Taiwan in the year of 2007.This study conducted by Ching-sheng chang & Hsin-Hsin chang.This study conducted among the nurses in medical


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centres in southern Thaiwan.One of the hypotheses of this research is that the job

satisfaction has a positive influence on organisational commitment. The datas of this

study suggest that the path coefficient from the job satisfaction to organisational

commitment is 0.56.Path coefficient of 0.56 indicates that a strong positive

relationship between the variables, that is job satisfaction and organisationalcommitment.Indeed,this research suggest a strong positive relationship between job

satisfaction and organisational commitment. Organisational commitment enhances

according to the job satisfaction.(Sheng chang &Hsin chang,2007).This can be

explain in other way like whenever the nurse feels better level of job satisfaction,

nurse tend to respect the organisational values and believes, and shows more

dedication to the work. This study also states that the employee tends to remain with

the organisation. This study also suggests that the job satisfaction is an intervening

variable which can have an indirect effect on the organisational commitment.

Hsien Ho et al (2009) conducted a study about the effect of job rotation and rolestress on job satisfaction and organisational commitment found that the influence on

organisational commitment by job satisfaction is positive. This study was conducted

among nurses in Taiwan. This study reveals that the nurses job satisfaction has a

positive influence over organisational commitment.(Hsien Ho et al,2009).In addition

to that, this study also suggests both the job satisfaction and organisational

commitment negatively influenced by the role stress. It has shown by the parameter

measures that the negative influence of role stress on organisational commitment is

greater than that on the job satisfaction. According to this study, variables such as

role stress and job rotation has an influence on job satisfaction. The mean between

the job satisfaction and organisational commitment is 0.63.That indicates a positive

strong influence. Combining all these evidences together reveals that the job

satisfaction is an antecedent to the organisational commitment.

Positive relationship by the job satisfaction and organisational commitment clearly

explained by Mahmoud Al Hussami in his study about the nurses job satisfaction

and its relationship with the organisational commitment. This study took place

around the nursing homes in the south-eastern part of United States. This study

conducted in the year 2008.In this study, the job satisfaction is considered as the

dependant variable and organisational commitment and organisational support isconsidered as the independent variable. The findings of the study indicated that the

correlation between the dependant variable job satisfaction and independent variable

organisational commitment is strong.(0.93) (Al Hussami,2008).This score indicate

that 80% of the variance in job satisfaction is accounted for the independent variable

organisational commitment.(Al Hussami,2008).Job satisfaction and organisational

commitment are strongly related to the all 20 correlation items in the study. Strong

attitude of the nurses towards the organisational commitment and job satisfaction

evidenced from the findings of this study is a clear indication of the nurses loyalty

towards the organisation and their job satisfaction.(Al Hussami,2008).In addition to

that, the multiple regression performed in this study suggest that the 92 % of the


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variance of job satisfaction is accounted for the linear combinations of the

independent variables like organisational support ,organisational commitment

etc.This study proposes that the job satisfaction is a significant predictor of

organisational commitment.

All studies that are discussed above strongly suggest that there is a positive relation

between the organisational commitment and job satisfaction. Both these variables

are inter related .This suggestion is evident in all the studies. The relationship

between these variables is strongly correlated. Greater job satisfaction will lead to a

raise in organisational commitment of nurses.

Theme 2

INTERNAL FACTORS OF JOB SATISFACTION AND ORGANISATIONAL

COMMITMENT

Age

Age is an important factor ,that influence the job satisfaction and organisational commitment.

It has been pointed out in many studies such as Lok & Crawford,1999;Wiesman et al,

Al ameri, in his study found that the aged nurses are more satisfied than the young

nurses(Al ameri,2000).In this study,the correlation of age and job satisfaction is 0.23,and

correlation between age and organisational commitment is 0.15.This can be viewed in the

context that the young nurses are at their beginning of the career,and they may face many

obstacles during the early stage of the career.That may affect their level of job satisfaction

and organisational commitment.Moreover,most of the aged nurses might be experiencedpeople,they may familiar with the working condition and climate.,which makes their work

easier than the young people.Experience too has a significant correlation with the job

satisfaction and organisational commitment(Al ameri,2000).Therefor ,the combined effect of

both these factors make the older people more committed and satisfied than the young

people.

However, age is not a significant factor of job satisfaction in situations ,where professional

characteristics have priority than the work environmental characteristics.A study about job

satisfaction of Canadian nurses ,working in oncology department ,conducted by cummings

et al,found that age has no significant relationship with the job satisfaction(Cummings et

al,2008).This result may be due to the different environment where the study

conducted.Becouse,oncology is a speciality area,therefor we can assume that ,those who

working there is interested in that speciality.So,their job satisfactory drive may be different

from others.However,majority of the study conducted in different environment found that age

has a specific role in promoting organisational commitment and job satisfaction.

CULTURE

There are cultural difference in the perspective of job satisfaction and organisational

commitment.The nurses view towards job satisfaction and organisational commitment is vary

across the societies.Study conducted between the nurses in England and Malaysia revealsthe cultural difference in the nurses perspective towards the job satisfaction and


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organisational commitment(Ahmad &Oranye,2010).In this study,the author found that the

organisational commitment of English nurses were comparatively less than their Malaysian

counterpart.However,they shows high job satisfaction.The possible reason for this difference

is due to the difference in culture.In another study conducted by Al ameri,found that there is

difference in organisational commitment across the countries.This study found that arab

nurses are more committed to the organisation than the nurses from the other countries(Alameri,2000).In this study,the European nurses were the less committed people.If we taking

consideration of the environment where the study conducted,we can assume that the

cultural difference has taken part of these difference on organisational commitment.This

study was conducted in public hospital in Riyadh,which is a middle east city.The lifestyle in

these region is entirely different from the European countries.So,the difference in culture

may tends the European nurses to show less commitment to the

organisation.However,studies such as Al hussami,MCneese-smith,where the participants

from various cultural and ethnic background does not find any influence on job satisfaction

and organisational commitment by culture,it is difficult to predict that the culture has a

significant influence on these variables.Therefor ,we can say that cultural factors have aminimal effect on job satisfaction and organisational commitment.

AUTONOMY

Autonomy has been recognised as one of the strongest factor influencing the organisational

commitment and job satisfaction.Many studies suggest that the autonomy of the nurse

positively influence the organisational commitment and job satisfaction.The study conducted

among hospital nurses between two hospital, by wiesmann et al,found that the professional

autonomy is the strongest predictor of job satisfaction.Cummings et al ,2008 also support

this view.Autonomy gives a good working environment and feeling of reward(

liu&Cheng,2010). This may cause them to feel a high level of job satisfaction.According tocumming et al,autonomy is one of the work environment factor which has a strong

correlation with the job satisfaction.Nurses want more freedom in their work environ ment ,so

that they can control their work environment.This view can be linked with Cummings et

al,2008 view of nurse physician relationship.According to cummings et al,2008,a good

nurse- physician relationship also a factor that contributes job satisfaction.An environment

where the nurse maintain a good positive relationship,the nurse get more freedom and

control over the area.Moreover,nurse may also participate in decision making process.That

also triggers the job satisfaction element.Autonomy enable the nurses to have control over

work environment through making work related decision.Organisational

commitment,however,not a direct beneficiary of autonomy,eventually it increases when theindividual starts to participate in decision making.So,it can be say that the professional

autonomy is a strong factor behind the job satisfaction and a contributor to the organisational

commitment.

EDUCATION

Education seems to be an important factor behind the nurses job satisfaction and

organisational commitment.The study conducted by (weisman et al)found a significant

correlation between the education and job satisfaction.The study found that the nurses job

satisfaction level was high in an area where the most nurses have a degree

qualification.This finding may be in the background of a different organisation,where thepolicy allows more opportunity for the degree holders to work freely in their clinical


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area.However,(Al ameri,2000) suggests only a minimal effect on job satisfaction by

education.(Al hussami,2009) found that the correlation between the education and

organisational commitment.The correlation between these two variable is .30,that means p

less than .05,which suggests a strong relation.This can be attributed to the career

opportunity they get from the organisation.The more educated staff members get more

higher positions in the organisation,and get more involvement in the decision makingprocess(Al hussami,2009).This perception may tends the nurses to show more commitment

to the organisation.However,( Ahmad & Oranye,2010) found a difference in organisational

commitment between the nurses share similar educational qualification.In this study,

though they have got the similar educational qualification,the nurses from England shows

less commitment than the Malaysian nurses.On the other hand English nurses has more job

satisfaction than the Malaysian nurses.This difference can be attributed to the difference in

culture,organisational policy.Becouse we already discussed the influence of culture in

organisational commitment and job satisfaction.By analysing all these factors ,we can

conclude that,though the education has a positive influence on organisational commitment

and job satisfaction,it varies according to the situation.

Marital status

Marital status can be a factor constitutes the job satisfaction and organisational

commitment.(Al ameri,2000) found that there are significant difference in the job satisfaction

and organisational commitment among nurses in four different catagories of marital

status.Liou & Chamg,2010) also supported this view.The study shows that ,the widowed

nurses are less satisfied with their work,whereas the most satisfied group is the divorced

one.In case of organisational commitment,married group shows more commitment than the

widowed group(Al ameri,2000).This finding might be due to the psychological condition in

which the widowed people are undergoing.

THEME 4:EXTERNAL FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANISATIONAL COMMITMENT

Leadership & job satisfaction

There have been a number of investigations conducted to analyse the impact of leadership

on job satisfaction.many studies suggests that the leadership and the type of leadership

have significant role on job satisfaction.The study conducted by Lok & Crawford found a

strong correlation between the job satisfaction and leadership.Similar result can be seen in

studies such as medley & Larochelle,1995;cummings eta l,2008;Al Hussami,2009.

The impact of leadership on job satisfaction of nurses has got many dimensions.Not every

leadership style can raise the level of job satisfaction.This view is supported by Medley

&Larochelle,1995.I n their study ,they found that the staff nurses job satisfaction positively

correlated with the head nurses transformational leadership style(Medley&

Larochelle,1995).That means ,if the head nurse has a transformational leadership style,that

will enhance the level of the job satisfaction of the staff nurse. Al hussami and Hall also

states that the transformational leadership has a significant correlation with the job

satisfaction(Alhussami,2009;Hall,2005).In the study of Medley and Larochelle,the correlation

between the transformational leadership style and job satisfaction is r = 0.4010 ,whereas

the correlation between the transactional leadership and job satisfaction of nurse is

r=0.0469(Medley &Larochelle,1995).Moreover,the study also found that the job satisfaction


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components such as professional status,autonomy,interaction,organisational policy,pay are

significantly correlated with the transformational leadership factors.While,none of the

transactional leadership factors were significantly correlated with the job satisfaction

components.Among these variables,interaction and autonomy were the most correlated job

satisfaction component with the transformational leadership factor.This indicte that the

nurses would like to work under a leader who shows transformational leadershipcharacteristics.This could be due to various reasons.A transformational leadership enable

the nurses to work more freely in their work environment.As nurses prefer autonomy in their

work(Cummings et al,2008),this approach may raise their level of job

satisfaction.Moreover,working in a conducive environment helps to reduce the role

stress,which has a significant negative correlation with the job satisfaction(Hsien ho et

al,2009).An employee oriented leadership also positively influence the job satisfaction of

nurse.Lok & Crawford found in their study that the consideration dimension of the leadership

has a strong positive influence on job satisfaction(Lok & Crawford,1999).

In general,the nurses job satisfaction is very much related to the leadership quality.Nursesprefers a transformational leadership rather than transactional leader.

Leadership & organisational commitment

Many studies investigated about the influence of leadership on organisational commitment of

the nurse.In his study,A

relationship between job satisfaction and organisational commitment among nurses

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