Factors that affect the job satisfaction of Saudi Arabian nurses.

AIM: To determine factors that influence the job satisfaction of Saudi nurses. BACKGROUND: Saudi Arabia has a chronic shortage of Saudi national nurses. This research contributes to a greater understanding of how job satisfaction influences the recruitment and retention of Saudi nationals within the nursing profession. METHODS: Qualitative data were gathered from Saudi nurses and content analysis was used to identify themes in the written responses. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged from the data: lack of educational opportunities and support and the poor image of the nursing profession, perceptions of favouritism, high workloads and stressful work environment and the effect of religion on job satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Saudi nurses would be more satisfied with their jobs if they had greater access to educational opportunities and if there was a reduction in workload and the perceived favouritism in the workplace was addressed. Religion was also found to play a significant role in supporting job satisfaction. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: These findings suggest the development of educational scholarships, as well as policies that better support equity in the workplace, to address Saudi nurses' level of job satisfaction. The generally positive impact of cultural and religious beliefs is also highlighted in this study.

The development and evaluation of online stories to enhance clinical learning experiences across health professions in rural Australia.

Clinical placement learning experiences are integral to all health and medical curricula as a means of integrating theory into practice and preparing graduates to deliver safe, high-quality care to health consumers. A growing challenge for education providers is to access sufficient clinical placements with experienced supervisors who are skilled at maximising learning opportunities for students. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of an innovative online learning program aimed at enhancing student and clinical supervisors' preparedness for effective workplace-based learning. The evidence-based learning program used 'story-telling' as the learning framework. The stories, which were supported by a range of resources, aimed to engage the learners in understanding student and supervisor responsibilities, as well as the expectations and competencies needed to support effective learning in the clinical environment. Evaluation of this program by the learners and stakeholders clearly indicated that they felt authentically 'connected' with the characters in the stories and developed insights that suggested effective learning had occurred.