Staff Nurses Perception of Power and its Relation to Job Satisfaction in Hospitals of Ministry of Health

Abstract Background: Power in an organization is derived from the employee's ability to gain access to effective support, information, opportunity, and needed resources. Power enables nurses to have control over their own practice. Studies reveled that nurses who obtained power perceived high level of job satisfaction. Aim of Study: The present study aimed to assess the staff nursing perception of power and its relation to job satisfaction. Material and Methods: Design: A descriptive correlational design was used to carry out this study. Setting: The study was conducted at Ismailia General Hospital is one hospital of ministry of health. Sample: A convenient sample of nursing staff (300 nurses) working at the study setting was included. Data Collection Tools: Two data collection tools namely; nurse's power questionnaire sheet composed of six dimensions (20 items) and Nurses' Job Satisfaction questionnaire consti-tuted from nine dimensions (36 items). Results: Study results revealed that (53.7%) of staff nurses perceived low level of power and the lowest percentageof (10.3%) of them had high level of power. More than half of them (51.7%) of them had moderate level of job satisfaction while the least percent (2.3%) had high level of job satisfaction. There is a significant staticallyrelation between power and job satisfaction (p=0.00). Conclusion: The study concluded that staff nurses per-ceived low level of power and moderate level of job satisfac-tion. Also, there is a significant positive relation between total power score and total satisfaction score of the staff nurses. Recommendations: Design a training program for staff nurses about sources of power and how to improve it and developing reward and reinforcement strategies to improve nurse's satisfaction.