AACN Survey Shows Commitment, Satisfaction Higher in Certified Nurses

Joyce J. Fitzpatrick

According to preliminary data from a national survey of AACN members, nurses who feel empowered, connected and committed to their institution feel as though they have the resources and support to do their jobs and also have the opportunities to advance within their organization.

Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth Brooks Ford professor of nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, presented the preliminary data during Monday’s session, “Empowerment Among Certified and Non-Certified Critical Care Nurses: A National Survey of AACN Members.”

“The good news is that 92.8% of our study population said they do not intend to leave the nursing profession. These data are so important for us because we hear so much about the dissatisfaction in nursing and we can at least say that the majority of critical care nurses who participated in our study are pretty happy in the nursing profession,” she said.

Preliminary findings

The objective of the study, which was funded by the AACN, was to identify the differences between specialty certified nurses and noncertified nurses’ intent to leave their current position or institution and whether or not they felt empowered in their current position.

A web-based survey distributed to AACN members measured the following six components: opportunity, information, support, resources, formal and informal power. A total of 7,016 valid surveys were returned and compiled.

“Significant differences were found in total empowerment scores between AACN specialty certified nurses versus noncertified nurses,” Fitzpatrick said. “This tells us that AACN certified nurses are more connected to their organization and feel empowered by their organization.”

Furthermore, data showed fewer AACN certified nurses reported they intended to leave their current position compared with noncertified nurses.

“This is great news for all of us in the nursing profession and suggests that we should invest in retention rather than in replacement costs,” Fitzpatrick said. “These results have significant financial implications for the healthcare industry and we hope to widely publicize these results.”

According to Fitzpatrick, the findings are expected to be published in one of AACN’s journals.

Recommendations for future research

“We know from the results of the current study that certification is the significant variable related to structural empowerment,” Fitzpatrick said. “Additional analyses from this study have been planned, which will look into the relationships between demographic variables of those with intent to stay in the profession and among those who do not have the intent to stay.”

She also suggested for future research to find why certain nurses are contemplating leaving their current position, specifically in relation to structural empowerment.

“Specialty certification of registered nurses is significant for every institution,” Fitzpatrick said. “Nurses who are more empowered are more connected and less likely to leave, which is why institutions should invest in certification. We should further research the effect of specialty certified nurses on clinical patient outcomes, safety initiatives and patient and family satisfaction.”