The Job Context Index: a guide for improving the 'fit' between nurses and their work environment.

Stress and burnout have reached crisis levels among hospital nurses. The authors of this paper address this problem with the development of a scale to improve the 'fit' between a nurse and his/her work environment, thereby potentially increasing satisfaction, and reducing stress and burnout. Approximately 1000 hospital nurses, randomly selected from a large eastern state, described their work in each of 10 clinical areas; their reports enabled the construction of the Job Context Index, which rank orders the 10 settings on three dimensions, including general work pressure/uncertainty, routinization of tasks, and co-worker interdependence. Nurses, as well as educators and administrators, may find their index a useful tool for matching nurses' temperaments and workstyles with the characteristics of the clinical areas in which they might be working.

Occupational stress among nurses in hospital settings.

1. This study provides empirical evidence for the repeated statements by hospital nurses that their work situation is overwhelmingly stressful. 2. Stress seems to arise from the overall complexity of nurses' work rather than specific tasks required of nurses. 3. Stressors are uniform across clinical areas, especially with regard to perceived work pressure. 4. Among the most frequently cited stressors for nurses in nearly every hospital setting were "keeping track of many things"; "It is hard to predict what will happen each day"; and "Simple mistakes could have dire consequences."

In search of the moral foundation of nursing.

This article is offered as an extension of the work of Yarling and McElmurry, who ostensibly discussed the moral foundations of nursing. They did not actually broach their intended topic, but they did offer important clues for further analysis. This presentation attempts to show how the moral foundation of nursing might be discerned by indicating both its linkage to the great moral ideas and certain confusions in current nursing ideology. It is claimed that the moral foundation of nursing--indeed, the moral inspiration at the heart of nursing practice--must come from a clearly developed understanding of the idea of nursing.

Subjective stress, job satisfaction, and job performance of hospital nurses.

This research concerns the relationship of subjective stress, job satisfaction, and job performance in hospital nurses. Obtained were self reports from 366 nurses, and performance ratings from 165 supervisors and 139 co-workers nominated by the original respondents. Reported are the results of exploratory path analyses, based on a general model, whereby standardized beta coefficients were used to estimate paths. The findings are that stress and job satisfaction are not directly related, and that stress, primarily acting through depression, is associated with lower levels of job performance. Job satisfaction is unrelated to job performance, and is based on depression and hostility which are affected by stress and personal characteristics.