The current research aimed to study the professional satisfaction of novice nurses during the first year after graduation, with a high response rate of 93%. The study revealed that our graduates found their first place of work very quickly, with most of them working in workplaces that they rated as a priority. The diversity in the workplace was very high. In our sample, 68.5% of the novice nurses work in the southern area of Israel. These findings are very important as workforce shortages in this area are significant, and the nursing program in this college was opened seven years ago with the vision of overcoming the nursing shortage in the south of Israel.
High mean professional satisfaction was found in this study (mean = 4.2). In the Israeli nursing study conducted by Savitsky et al. in 2020, nurses with an average professional experience of 13 years reported a mean professional satisfaction of 3.6 (22). It's worth noting that this study was conducted during challenging pandemic circumstances. In another Israeli study conducted in 2014, the mean professional satisfaction was 3.9 (23). Similar results have been reported in other countries. In 2006, a study conducted among Chinese nurses (24) reported mean professional satisfaction of 3.3, while studies conducted in Finland (25) and Portugal (26) found mean professional satisfaction of 3.6 (27) and 3.7, respectively. All these studies were conducted under regular (non-pandemic) conditions among nurses with some seniority in the profession. Ma et al., reported higher levels of job satisfaction among inexperienced nurses (0–2 years) as compared to experienced nurses (over two years) (28).
We found that satisfaction with the program in the nursing department was associated with higher professional satisfaction significantly and independently from other factors. Similar results were found in 2016 in an Australian study, where satisfaction with nursing education was a significant predictor of job satisfaction (29). Likewise, research conducted among recently graduated physical therapists in Israel discovered that job satisfaction was predicted by the extent to which respondents felt satisfied with their study program(19). We believe that self-confidence serves as the intermediary factor in the association between satisfaction with the study process and professional satisfaction (30). Self-confidence is defined as the belief of individuals in their own abilities to achieve goals and perform tasks and practices effectively and efficiently (31). The professional self-confidence of nurses develops when nursing students gain theoretical knowledge and critical thinking skills and further consolidate their evidence-based learning in clinical and academic environments (32). The transition from a former student to a novice nurse is challenging (33). Various challenges are waiting for young nurses, and those who are better prepared will feel more confident and will achieve higher professional satisfaction.
The main component of professional satisfaction, self-accomplishment, was built from work-related challenges, interest and variety of tasks, personal growth and development, and the possibility of contributing to patients` care. The workforce of young nurses is highly motivated; thus, preserving their professional inspiration and preventing burnout is crucial.
An additional component of professional satisfaction is organizational culture, containing support and relations with other nurses and multi-professional staff. A large body of evidence demonstrates the importance of interpersonal relationships to nurses’ job satisfaction (34–39). Adams and Bond found that the most important contributors to nurses’ job satisfaction were the degree of cohesion of the ward nursing team, the degree of collaboration with medical staff, and the perception of staff organization (35). Another study found that good collegial relationship with co-workers is one of two factors that are dominant in nurses’ understanding of job satisfaction, along with the perceived ability to deliver good patient care (39). Co-workers` support was even more crucial during the pandemic: a survey among 2,500 nurses in New York City who worked during the first wave of the pandemic revealed that 75% of nurses indicated that co-worker support was beneficial to their mental well-being (40). A study from the Netherlands in which diary entries of novice nurses with less than a year seniority in the profession were analyzed discovered that lack of support from colleagues significantly influenced job commitment (41).
Another component of professional satisfaction related to the reward and work conditions was significantly less important to novice nurses as compared to self-accomplishment and organizational culture. These findings support Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory (42), arguing that intrinsic job characteristics related to personal growth, accomplishments, professional challenges, diversity, and interest (not extrinsic factors such as work conditions and economic reward) contribute to professional satisfaction. On the other hand, the study shows that lower control over the work schedule and higher level of disturbance to daily life outside of work are significantly associated with lower professional satisfaction. Accordingly, high work-family conflict was associated with a lower quality of nursing care in the study conducted among nurses working in the COVID-19 ward (43). Work-to-family conflicts negatively affect family outcomes and employee physical and mental health (44). Conflicts between work and family result in lower professional satisfaction (36, 44, 45) and more intentions to quit (46, 47).
The last component of managerial support highlights the importance of the relationship with the head nurse. Given the importance of managerial support, nurse managers need to possess the necessary competencies to enact supportive role behaviors (48). It is important for nurse managers to have access to human resource management programs, which should ideally be made mandatory. These programs enable nurse managers to develop the necessary competencies to exhibit supportive role behaviors and foster a work environment characterized by cooperation and support within their department. Nurses’ professional satisfaction is one of the most important factors in determining individuals’ intention to stay or leave a healthcare organization (49–52) or the profession (49, 50). Laschinger (2012) studied job and career satisfaction and turnover intentions of newly graduated nurses in their first and second year of experience. In this study, occupational dissatisfaction was one of the significant predictors of the intention to leave the nursing profession (49). In line with these studies, we found that novice nurses with higher professional satisfaction expressed willingness to take an advanced professional course. A study previously conducted in Israel found that nurses' willingness to stay in the profession was strongly predicted by the existence of advanced practice courses in their curriculum vitae(7).
Finally, highly satisfied novice nurses report willingness to recommend their friends and family members to choose nursing as a profession. Thus, promoting high professional satisfaction is important not only for the nurses functioning and well-being but also for the thriving of the nursing profession.