This research reviews the issue of job satisfaction among nurse anesthetists. As anesthesia specialists, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), provide anesthesia for patients undergoing surgical, obstetrical, and diagnostic procedures. CRNAs administer medications to keep patients asleep or pain free during surgery and constantly monitor every important function of the patient's body (Bryan Memorial Hospital/University of Kansas School of Nurse Anesthesia, 1998).
Nurse anesthetists confront most of the same problems that are confronted by all professional nurses in relation to the issue of job satisfaction or job dissatisfaction. These problems include high levels of stress, heavy workloads, and job burn-out, among others. As is true of all advanced practice nurses, however, CRNAs are confronted with the problem of challenges to their right to practice. The challenge to the right to practice is an important factor in the development of job satisfaction or job dissatisfaction among nurse anesthetists.
A recognized authority on job satisfaction, Edwin Locke (1983), defined job satisfaction as "a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job or job experiences" (p. 1300). Job satisfaction, however, is a complex factor, and the level of job satisfaction among a group of individuals is the product of the interaction of a variety of other factors (Maidani, 1991). Job satisfaction has been linked to the degree of autonomy individuals perceive that they have in the performance of their duties, and, in this context, job satisfaction has been defined as the extent to which one perceives that her or his organizational needs are satisfied by the job. Job satisfaction also is defined frequently within the context of the components of a job that affect perceptions of satisfaction, such as work, pay, promotion, coworkers, and supervision (Tett & Meyer, 1993).
Job Satisfaction/Job Dissati...