Surveys show that Hopkins is a good place to be a nurse
“Job satisfaction is a key factor in attracting and retaining the best nurses,” according to Patty Dawson, MSN, RN, coordinator for Magnet and Quality for The Johns Hopkins Hospital. That’s why this June, more than 70 percent of the hospital’s nurses participated in two surveys to gauge their satisfaction and engagement in the workplace.
Among the 7,300 hospital employees who took the Gallup Q12 employee engagement survey were 1,700 bedside nurses. A more engaged nursing staff can mean improved efficiency, patient satisfaction, and safety, so with nurses comprising approximately 23 percent of Hopkins’ workforce, their participation in the survey was important.
“Our employees are our most valuable asset, and we want to have a way to capture their feedback,” said Carol Woodward, a Johns Hopkins human resources consultant who helps coordinate the Q12 survey every two years. The results for nurses showed improvement over the 2007 “Grand Mean” score as well as scores in 10 of the 12 individual questions on the survey, Woodward said.
The RN Job Satisfaction survey, administered through the National Database for Nursing Quality Indicators and coordinated at Hopkins by Dawson, measures nurses’ satisfaction with their level of input in decision-making, time to complete tasks, overall job enjoyment, and perceptions about quality of care. Results from 2005, 2007, and 2009 have revealed consistent improvement in all four areas–and Hopkins remains above the national average.
Managers are sharing the survey data with nurses on their units this fall. Together, they will work to assess the unit’s strengths and plan for continued improvements to make Hopkins an even better place to be a nurse.