Nurses' Work Motivation and the Factors Affecting It: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Objective: This review is aimed to examine nurses’ work motivation and factors affecting it. Methodology: Cochrane library, MEDLINE, PubMed, Science Direct, Cumulative Index Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ProQuest and Ovid databases were searched, covering the period 2011 to 2017. Studies were included if they concerned nurses’ work motivation and the factors affecting it. Results: In the yielded studies, nurses’ work motivation is affected by several personal and organisational factors. Nurses’ age, years of experience, autonomy, educational level and administrative positions were found as personal characteristics that affect nurses’ work motivation level. Moreover, nurses' empowerment, work engagement, pay and financial benefits, supervision, promotion, contingent rewards, supportive relationship (co-workers), communication and nature of work were identified in the literature as organizational factors affecting nurses’ work motivation. Conclusion: This review confirmed that nurses' work motivation was often affected by several personal and organizational factors which are crucial in affecting the level of nurses' work motivation.