Salary satisfaction of acute critical care nurses in Hunan Province: a mixed study

Aim: Salary satisfaction of acute and critical care nurses are of great significance to turnover rate and career development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the intrinsic motivation and salary satisfaction of acute critical care nurses. Design: A mixed study. Methods: A total of 300 acute and critical nurses from 6 public Grade Three hospitals in Hunan Province from January to April 2024 were selected by convenience sampling method for questionnaire collection. Ten acute and critical nurses were selected as the research objects in semi-structured interview. Results: Three themes emerged in the interview. The main influencing factor of one theme was salary, while workload and transparency appeared in the other two themes. The statistical analysis found that there was a positive correlation between salary satisfaction and intrinsic motivation of acute critical nurses, and improving intrinsic motivation of acute critical nurses had a positive impact on salary satisfaction. Conclusion: Pay is an important factor affecting the turnover of acute and critical nurses, and hospitals need to improve it. The enhancement of nurses' intrinsic motivation has a positive impact on salary satisfaction. Impact: This paper provides some reference for hospitals to consider reducing nurses' turnover intention. public contribution: Nurses from 6 public top-three hospitals in Hunan Province participated in the questionnaire collection.