Postgraduate Nurse Practitioner Education: Impact on Job Satisfaction

• Postgraduate nurse practitioner (NP) programs are rapidly growing across the United States.
• NPs from 30 states and the District of Columbia completed a job satisfaction survey.
• NPs with postgraduate education were compared with NPs without postgraduate education.
• Satisfaction scores, years of experience, and regulatory environments were analyzed.
• Postgraduate education has a significant positive impact on NP job satisfaction.

Programs to facilitate nurse practitioner (NP) transition-to-practice have been developed at public and private institutions across the United States, yet there is no published evidence of their influence on NP job satisfaction. The Misener Nurse Practitioner Job Satisfaction Scale was administered to a convenience sample of two groups of NPs: one group with a formal postgraduate education and another group without formal postgraduate education. Postgraduate education has a statistically significant positive impact on NP job satisfaction. Knowledge of factors that influence job satisfaction is advantageous to employers, policymakers, and NPs considering postgraduate education opportunities.