Learning Objective #1: Discuss the relationship between work-family conflict, job satisfaction and psychological well-being among African American nurses

Learning Objective #2: Explore factors that African American nurses articulated as reasons to leave the nursing profession or workplace

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Investigating the relation between work-family conflict, psychological well-being and job satisfaction among African American nurses is important due to its implications regarding the retention of this group. Retention impacts the deliverance of culturally competent care to African American patients. The dynamics of this phenomenon influences the psychological well-being of the African American nurses that have families. This study was derived from the concepts of the Roy Adaptation model 1) humans as adaptive systems and 2) humans as interactive beings within an ever changing environment. The major assumption considered in this study was the interconnectiveness of the adaptive modes. This study utilized the following conceptual model concepts from the Roy Adaptation model: 1) self-concept mode and 2) role function mode (Roy & Andrews, 1999). The two research questions were 1) how do African American nurses describe the relationship between work-family conflict, job satisfaction and psychological well-being and 2) what family or work events force African American nurses to leave the nursing profession or workplace? In order to gather data about the attitudes, perceptions, and opinions of the nurses, focus group methodology was implemented (Krueger, 1998). Purposive sampling was used to obtain the participants. The focus groups followed a semi-structured question guide and were audiotaped and moderated by the primary investigator. Four focus groups have been conducted (N = 14). Findings indicated several factors that influenced the nurses' perception of the relationship between work and family roles and psychological well-being. Some of the situations implicated as reasons to leave the profession or workplace included (1) illness of a loved one, (2) forced overtime and (3) extreme racism. This ongoing study would add to the body of nursing knowledge in the areas of family-related research and job satisfaction. Content analysis was used to analyze the data (Krueger and Casey, 2000).