JOB SATISFACTION, ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS AND WORK STRESS: EFFECTS OF NURSING ASSISTANT RESILIENCE

Turnover for nurse aides (NAs) in long-term care (LTC) is estimated to be between 55% and 75% (Wiener, Squillace, Anderson, & Khatusky, 2009) and is related to high levels of employee burnout and low levels of job satisfaction (Rushton, Batcheller, Schroeder, & Donohue, 2015). Employees who are resilient tend to cope positively with work related stressors (Itzhaki et al., 2015); resident aggression is a common workplace stressor experienced by LTC NAs. This study examined whether resilient NAs were more satisfied with their job, experienced less distress from resident aggression, and engaged in more organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) as compared to less resilient NAs. In other words, are resilient NAs still engaging in positive work behaviors (OCBs) despite experiencing work-related stress? NAs (N = 110) from six midwestern nursing homes completed a survey that assessed their resilience, job satisfaction, OCBs, and experience of resident aggression. Results indicated that resilience was significantly related to OCBs r(108), p < .001, OCBs were significantly related to job satisfaction r(95), p .002, and resilience was significantly negatively correlated to distress due to resident aggression r(95), p .008. No significant relationships were found between resilience and job satisfaction or OCBs and distress due to resident aggression. Future researchers may consider developing interventions to bolster NA resilience as it is related to OCBs. Subsequently, engaging in OCBs positively relates to job satisfaction which may result in reduced burnout and turnover in NAs. Furthermore, resilience can reduce distress related to a commonly experienced job stress (i.e., resident aggression).