Survey reveals primary workplace motivators and demotivators in hospital nurses, highlighting key targets for sustainable workforce retention.
Key Points
To evaluate key motivating and demotivating factors influencing nurses' work engagement and examine their links to sociodemographic and occupational variables within a sustainable human resource management framework.
Conducted a diagnostic survey among 300 nurses in a Polish university clinical hospital between October 2023 and March 2024.
Analyzed associations between occupational variables, motivators, and demotivators using the chi-square test of independence and Cramér’s V.
Salary level was identified as the primary financial motivator, employer-funded qualification training as the main non-wage motivator, and friendly team relationships as the foremost non-material motivator.
Leading demotivators included low salary, low occupational status, poor relationships with supervisors or colleagues, and restricted professional autonomy.
Statistically significant associations were observed between financial motivators and age, professional experience, employment contract type, and salary level, whereas associations for non-material and demotivating factors were generally weak and inconsistent.
Cite This Study
Rybarczyk-Szwajkowska et al. (2026) studied this question.