Journal of Japanese Society for International Nursing Vol.4 No.1 2020

Job Satisfaction among Foreign-educated Nurses: a systematic review

1〇Hua Jing1, Kondo Akiko1, Piao Meihui1
1.

Tokyo Medical and Dental University【Introduction】

confounding variables. Predicting factors included: Personal factors ofGlobally, a shortage of nurses is a critical problem. One strategy to solve

acculturation, demands of immigration, life satisfaction, socio-demographic

this shortage in many countries is to recruit foreign-educated nurses (FENs).

factors (age, gender, educational level, length of residency, working in

It is well known that job satisfaction can be an influential factor in turnover,intensive care unit and English taught in country of origin); Interactional factor

which can effect critical nursing shortages. Although FENs’ job satisfactionof peer support; and Organizational factors of adequacy of orientation,

has been investigated by several studies, there is no systematic review thatperceived discrimination, cultural orientation and protégé (mentoring)

synthesized FEN job satisfaction level and contributing factors.

experience. Crucial factors that were addressed in two or more studies

The purpose of this study was to systematically review the empiricalincluded socio-demographic factors (age and length of residency) andresearch on FEN job satisfaction and to summarize associated factors.

organizational support.

【Method】【Discussion】

Electronic databases such as PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, Google

Acculturation was influenced by FEN’s origin country and adaptation

Scholar, Web of Science, Cochrane library, Japan Medical Abstract Society

process into new country. This highlights the importance of adaptation(医中誌) and Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator (CiNii), were

processes to FEN’s job satisfaction. A supportive working environment wasused. The keywords ‘foreign’, ‘international’, ‘oversea’, ‘migrant’,also suggested to be an important factor. It is necessary for organizations to‘expatriate’, ‘registered nurse’, ‘nurse’, ‘work satisfaction’ and ‘job

develop orientation or support programs which can enhance FENs’adaptation

satisfaction’ in English and ‘満足度’, ‘外国人’, ‘国際’, ‘看護師’in Japaneseprocess and increase their job satisfaction.

were used to retrieve studies published in English or Japanese between

In this systematic review, nearly 80% of studies were determined toJanuary 1990 and December 2020. Studies were included if they met thehave a strong level of methodological quality, but all quantitative studies wereinclusion criteria: original studies with over 70% of study participantscross-sectional study design, which is a low evidence level methodology.

registered FENs that investigated FEN job satisfaction in a new country.

Prospective cohort and intervention studies are necessary to reduce basis andExclusion criteria were: 1) Participants were students, nurse assistants, orincrease the evidence level. It is also necessary to explore factors related to job

persons who want to be FENs but are not registered; and 2) Studies

satisfaction such as communication barriers including language or different

investigating patients’ satisfaction towards nursing, or quality of care.

cultural values. More qualitative research to deeply understand how these

The first and second authors independently searched articles using thereview protocol and a total of 1878 original studies were assessed. Fifteen

factors affect FEN job satisfaction is necessary.

【Conclusion】

articles were selected for quality assessment, which was assessed by the three

The present review showed that the overall job satisfaction amongauthors using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal tools (JBI,

FENs appears to be at a moderate level while predicting crucial factors

2017). Two articles were excluded because of low quality.

related to FEN job satisfaction were socio-demographic factors andA standardized score (Dilig-Ruiz et al., 2018) was calculated to compareorganizational support. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct more research tooverall job satisfaction level across included studies on a range from 1 to 10.

investigate the relationship between various factors and FEN job satisfaction

Similar factors related to FENs’ job satisfaction were categorized afterand evaluate the effectiveness of support programs which can be used toextracting the significant factors reported in the results of included studies, andimprove job satisfaction.

presented as a narrative summary.

Dilig-Ruiz, A., et al. (2018). Job satisfaction among critical care nurses: A【Results】
A total of 13 studies (12 were quantitative studies with cross-sectionalcorrelation design and one was qualitative design) published between 1992
and 2020 were selected and synthesized. Regarding methodological quality

systematic review. In International Journal of Nursing Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.08.014
JBI. (2017). Critical Appraisal Tools - JBI. Joanna Briggs Institute.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.09.1

of included studies, ten (77%) were rated strong, and three (23%) were rated
moderate. The average standardized overall job satisfaction score was 6.71
(from nine studies), indicating that FENs were moderately satisfied with theirjob.
Twenty-seven factors related to FEN’s job satisfaction were categorized
intopersonal factors (16 factors), interactional factor (1 factor) andorganizational factors (10 factors). Among them, 14 predicting factors wereidentified in the studies that used multivariate analysis for adjusting

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