Relationship between nurse psychological empowerment and job satisfaction: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize and analyse studies that explored the relationship between the psychological empowerment and job satisfaction of nurses.

Background: Nurse turnover is an important cause of staff shortage. Job satisfaction is a major predictor of nurse turnover and is connected to the psychological empowerment of nurses.

Design: This systematic review and meta-analysis is based on the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines.

Data sources: A total of 1,572 articles on psychological empowerment and job satisfaction were retrieved from PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE and Web of Science. The articles were written in English and published before or by April 2017.

Methods: Studies on the relationship between psychological empowerment and job satisfaction were summarized.

Results: The majority of the included studies revealed that psychological empowerment and job satisfaction are significantly correlated. Only two studies showed that the two factors are not significantly correlated. The result of this meta-analysis is consistent with the results of most studies. One study reported that psychological empowerment partially mediates the structural empowerment and job satisfaction of school health nurses. Two studies, however, did not find that the mediating role of psychological empowerment between structural empowerment and job satisfaction.

Conclusion: The results of this review provided evidence for the importance of psychological empowerment for the job satisfaction of among nurses. Exploring the correlation between psychological empowerment and job satisfaction can provide guidelines and recommendation for the development of strategies to promote nurse retention and alleviate nursing shortage.