Where do the nurses with the highest job satisfaction work?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi everyone,

I'm curios about where the happiest nurses work and what exactly the hospital and/or units are doing to keep these nurses highly satisfied in their positions, considering the highly pressured environment we work in. For example nurse to patient ratios, work-life balance, resources, support, team work, admission/discharge nurses, etc. Looking forward to your feedback.

Specializes in Varied.

I really like the acute setting and loathed home health/case management. It's all about what makes you feel the best.

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My department, because the nurses have a super faboo ultra cool boss.

That is worth a lot.

Make-or-Break-ville.

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My department, because the nurses have a super faboo ultra cool boss.

Are you the boss? I'm a little slow to get jokes. 🤔.

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Working ambulatory surgery. The patients aren't even sick, we're closed nights, weekends, and holidays.

A good friend was a school nurse. She's a fun, easygoing person. Loved the hours, off all summer, she loves to travel.

She knew the pay was low. But the number of schools and students she was responsible for was huge. Little support from the school districts, it didn't sound fun to me.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

So different for everyone. Work life balance is key.

I am about to start a float pool position. Some people hate floating, but I love it. No drama, can fly under the radar.

Having a bad day? Tomorrow will be on a different unit.

I also get a raise, work days only, and work hardly any weekends or holidays.

You have to figure out what you value and find the job that fits you best.

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So different for everyone. Work life balance is key.

I am about to start a float pool position. Some people hate floating, but I love it. No drama, can fly under the radar.

Having a bad day? Tomorrow will be on a different unit.

I also get a raise, work days only, and work hardly any weekends or holidays.

You have to figure out what you value and find the job that fits you best.

Finally someone nailed it, why floating is great. I love floating.

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Specializes in Critical care.
As a side note, I'd be very surprised to learn that any kind of acute care position produces the happiest nurses. I think it's more likely that people who have a good work/life balance (which is hard in acute care running a 24/7 operation and constantly being called on their days off) will be the happiest.

I just let my phone ring when it's the staffing office and I'm off. If I have the inclination to pick up some overtime I do, but I don't feel guilty when I don't want to.

I know my acute care job requires weekends and holidays and for the most part I really don't mind. If I need off on my weekend I tend to know well enough in advance to find a swap. I also make my weekends work to my advantage- I plan trips around them so I can have time off work with little to no PTO when I want to. I've had almost an entire week off work before without using any vacation time. I've visited family and had family visit me without needing to use PTO (which means I can save it for when I really want to use it- like the trip I'm planning to Europe) and my friends who aren't in nursing can't say the same. My friend's husband has to buy additional vacation days we'll in advance when they know they're taking a bunch of trips. They also live far from family and don't want to use all their vacation time just to see family, so they only see their family once a year or so.

ETA: Some days I hate my ICU job, but most of the time I love it. I tend to not be happy when my patients aren't really critical care level patients OR when the patient really should be comfort care and they are not (so I feel like I'm torutring the poor person for no reason). I was super busy the other day helping others and taking care of my own patients, but I left happy and satisfied at the end of the day.

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Specializes in Pedi.
I just let my phone ring when it's the staffing office and I'm off. If I have the inclination to pick up some overtime I do, but I don't feel guilty when I don't want to.

I know my acute care job requires weekends and holidays and for the most part I really don't mind. If I need off on my weekend I tend to know well enough in advance to find a swap. I also make my weekends work to my advantage- I plan trips around them so I can have time off work with little to no PTO when I want to. I've had almost an entire week off work before without using any vacation time. I've visited family and had family visit me without needing to use PTO (which means I can save it for when I really want to use it- like the trip I'm planning to Europe) and my friends who aren't in nursing can't say the same. My friend's husband has to buy additional vacation days we'll in advance when they know they're taking a bunch of trips. They also live far from family and don't want to use all their vacation time just to see family, so they only see their family once a year or so.

What you describe here is the only thing I miss about acute care. I once took a 10 day trip to Italy and used only 24 hrs of PTO. However, I get plenty of vacation time and I'm not so worried about having to hoard it in my current role.

OP, as you can see from this thread, there is no answer to your question. I am happiest working Mon-Fri (which I would never have predicted would be the case) but some nurses hate that schedule.

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Specializes in Med-Surge; Forensic Nurse.

Hello:

I think this question has be answered by individual nurses. Of course, there may be some macro-data and/or indicators, but, happiness may be defined individually for different nurses.

Some nurses are happy in the ER; some are happy providing direct care. Some are happy when they are holding their patient's hand when the patient is transitioning from earth. Some are happy with the heartwrenching care of sick children. Some are happy in the boardroom. Some are happy teaching others in some capacity. Some are happy working with staffing agencies, while others are happy working part-time or PRN.

The point is each nurse has to find his/her place where they are best used and that fits their skills, passion, & goals.

I think it's also important that nurses understand that no matter what job/position they work in, there is and should be a life outside of the work facility. Nurses need to have time away from work to recoup, relax, rejuvenate, and reconnect with family & friends. Nurses should have hobbies outside of the work environment to just wind down, or they will burn out! A good, healthy, work-life balance helps to keep life and work in harmony, knowing that each brings trouble & joy in their own time.

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Of course, as other PPs have stated, it will depend on the nurse and on the unit.

That being said, NICU tends to have a lot of overall job satisfaction, as evidenced by the ridiculously long tenure of many nurses. At least 20% of my current NICU colleagues are in their 50s, 60s, and even 70s, some of whom continue to work full-time simply because they enjoy it. The work is relatively easy on your body, the parents are generally incredibly appreciative, the ratios are usually appropriate, and the babies almost always get better and go home.

Unfortunately, one major downside to NICU is that it takes a very long time to earn seniority because our turnover is relatively low. That means you may end up on night shift for quite a while, and you probably won't have the first pick of vacation times until you've got at least a decade of experience. It's also a notoriously difficult specialty to break into.

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It depends on what gives each particular nurse satisfaction. Some thrive on a high stress environment like ER, some enjoy a slower pace. Good management and agreeable coworkers makes a difference.

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

I agree that a good boss and good coworkers make such a difference. However, even that couldn't save the misery of acute care for me. I had to move on. I'm a public health nurse and nurses tend stay forever where I work. No job is perfect but overall, I sure do like mine. Someone else might not feel the same way, obviously. As they say, that's what makes the world go round. Luckily. as a nurse, there are so many choices and possibilities that it's very likely you can find your happiness.

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