Patient satisfaction is considered an essential component of patient-centered care. Patient-centered care and patient satisfaction are viewed as core nursing values, as proposed by early pioneers of nursing, such as Florence Nightingale. It has been found that improvements in management, training, job satisfaction, employee empowerment, as well as decision making were needed for hospitals to improve their performance in patient safety, quality of care, and patient satisfaction (Leggart, Bartram, Casimir, & Stanton, 2010, p. 2).
There is a limited understanding of how nurse satisfaction impacts delivery of care and patient outcomes. This is significant because there is evidence of decreasing job satisfaction among nurses, which is associated with declining quality of patient care (2010, p.
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Nurse leaders are one of the most important factors in creating a positive work environment (Dempsey& Reilly, 2016, para. 34). A positive work environment is a place where nurses feel valued and supported (2016, para. 34). A way nurse managers can improve the work environment for staff nurses is to ensure that there is appropriate staffing and that patient load is not only be based off of volume, but also based on patient acuity, the nurses experience, and skill set (2016, para. 34) Further, it is important that equipment and resources are readily available and in working order because if equipment is not then this can cause frustration among staff nurses, which can also be dangerous for staff and patients (2016, para. 34). It is also important to note that hospitals that earned Magnet recognition had expressively better patient and nurse outcomes than other hospitals. Also, research shows that for nurses to become empowered, they need to have influence and decision-making authority within their work environment and nursing roles (2010, p.