Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Committee Chair

Anna Hamrick

Abstract

There is evidence that the increase in patients per nurse ratio and job dissatisfaction are leading causes of nurse burnout in the United States; however, current research mostly focuses on the hospital setting which limits the generalization of the findings. Therefore, more research is needed beyond the hospital environment. The purpose of this MSN thesis was to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and nurse-patient ratio with nurse burnout among home health nurses. The hypothesis is that home health nurses who experience a higher nurse to patient ratio and greater job dissatisfaction will experience increased nurse burnout. A review of literature helped to gain an appreciation for the current research that has been conducted in this area of interest, and also revealed the need for further research in the home health setting. This study utilized convenience sampling and a descriptive correlational design among a group of home health nurses in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina. Results from the MJS survey and nurse-patient ratio were analyzed with the results from the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) to determine if a relationship exists. The results revealed that some of the Measure of Job Satisfaction (MJS) subscales appeared to be better predictors of overall job satisfaction, and there does appear to be a positive association between nurse-patient ratio and job satisfaction. In regards to nurse burnout, only one out of the 10 subjects showed results that suggested high nurse burnout. Because a conclusive relationship is unable to be established between neither nurse-patient ratio, nor job satisfaction nor between nurse-patient ratio and nurse burnout, neither can a conclusive relationship be established between job satisfaction and nurse burnout. Areas of improvement in this type of research have been reviewed to further the knowledge available to those who will conduct research in the future on this imperative issue.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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