| The purpose of this study was to conduct an empirical investigation of the relationship between nursing staff perceptions of leader/manager communication and nursing job satisfaction. The rapid and multidimensional changes that are occurring throughout healthcare today are driven by a goal of health care institutions to transform health care into an efficient business without losing the ability to provide quality services resulting in positive outcomes for both patients and the community. The impact of these changes is tremendous and has a significant operational impact on staff, the administration and the institution's ability to remain a contributing component of the business and service community.;Nurses are a critical ingredient in the provision of health care services. Nurses must not only see the new vision for health care and nursing's role for the twenty-first century, but they must facilitate the development of re-engineering, rightsizing and downsizing strategies that protect the patient's right for optimal care. Nursing leaders are another essential part of this path to success, primarily through developing the art of communication between managers and staff. They must be able to facilitate a vision, emphasizing relationship oriented work and focused on the values of the profession (Keeling & Linnen, 1997, Kowalski, Burton, & Rehwaldt, 1997).;Five-hundred critical care nurses (members of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses) were surveyed from across the United States. Respondents were requested to anonymously complete two surveys to determine their perception of communication strategies from their immediate supervisor and their own job satisfaction. The communication instrument was the Down's & Hazen's (1974), Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire and the job satisfaction instrument was the Job Descriptive Index by Smith, Kendall, and Hulin, (1969). Overall response rate was 42%.;Results supported the relationship between overall communication satisfaction and overall job satisfaction. Work satisfaction was identified as the most positive job satisfaction dimension. All eight of the communication dimensions demonstrated a positive value. Understanding of the relationships between the various dimensions of job satisfaction and communication satisfaction were not conclusive, although supportive of the important relationship between staff and managers for the purpose of communication. A final analysis identified the department manager level of immediate supervisor as significant in the relationship between job satisfaction and communication satisfaction. |
