Nurse practitioners’ job satisfaction in rural versus nonrural areas

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of nurse practitioners’ (NPs) job satisfaction and its relationship to work conditions in rural versus nonrural areas. Data sources: A secondary analysis of data extracted from the 2012 National Sample Survey of Nurse Practitioners. NPs in active practice in clinical settings were included in this study. The final analytic sample consisted of 9010 NPs. Conclusions and implications for practice: Overall, NPs were satisfied with their positions (satisfied to very satisfied). Both rural and nonrural NPs were most satisfied with the proportion of their time spent in patient care, their level of autonomy, and the respect that they received from other colleagues. Nonrural NPs who said or stated that they performed to the fullest extent of their states’ legal scope of practice were more satisfied than nonrural NPs who did not. When nonrural NPs fully utilized their NP skills, their job satisfaction increased. For rural NPs, a similar pattern was found regarding full use of their NP skills. The evidence found in this study reminds us that given the increasing demands for NPs’ healthcare services, continuous effort should be made to recruit and retain rural NPs.