666326

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TCNXXX10.1177/1043659616666326Journal of Transcultural NursingKim et al.

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Journal of Transcultural Nursing

The Impact of Organizational

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DOI: 10.1177/1043659616666326

Culture on Job Satisfaction in Korean tcn.sagepub.com

American Registered Nurses

Young Im Kim, PhD, MPH, RN1, Hyo Geun Geun, PhD, MPH, RN2,
SookJa Choi, PhD, MPH, RN3, and Young Sil Lee, MPH, RN4

Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to describe the perceived level of organizational commitment and organizational culture of
Korean American Registered Nurses (KARNs) and to investigate predictors of job satisfaction. Design: A total of 163
KARNs working in U.S. hospitals responded to a Web survey. Descriptive analysis, t test, analysis of variance, and stepwise
regressions were used for data analysis. Results: KARNs reported moderate levels of job satisfaction (3.5 ± 0.58). Job
satisfaction was positively correlated with both organizational commitment (r = .85, p < .001) and culture (r = .66, p <
.001). KARNs who were aged ≥50, married, hospital-employed, had longer nursing experience, and experienced turnover
at least once were more likely to report higher job satisfaction compared with other nurses. Organizational commitment,
culture, marital status, and workplace were significant predictors of and explained 76.8% of the variance in job satisfaction.
Conclusion: This study provides evidence to help nursing managers and health policy makers develop educational programs
aimed at enhancing job satisfaction and retention of KARNs.

Keywords
job satisfaction, nurse, organizational commitment, organizational culture

Introduction As the U.S. foreign registered nurses workforce increases,

Studies have suggested that the foreign nursing workforce
in the United States will continue to grow because the sup-
ply of U.S. domestic registered nurses is still insufficient
to fill all vacancies in nursing positions (Buerhaus,
Auerbach, & Staiger, 2009). In 2008, the National Sample
Survey of Registered Nurses estimated that Foreign-
Educated Nurses (FENs) living in the United States
account for 5.4% of all licensed registered nurses (Health
Resources & Services Administration, 2010), and 50.1%
of them originate from Asian countries, comprising the
largest proportion of FENs working in the United States.
Korean American Registered Nurses (KARNs) made up
2.6% of them. In addition, a study reported that 57.7% of
Korean nurses intended to work in the United States (Lee
& Son, 2010), and their interests in immigration and U.S.
employment are expected to continue. Although the growth
of KARNs in the U.S. nursing work force has been sizable,
little understanding exists regarding the characteristics and
experiences of KARNs in their organizations. Knowledge
about the organizational experiences of KARNs is in its
infancy and particularly limited (Kim & Geun, 2015; Kim,
& Park, 2014).
health care organizations are paying more attention to retain-
ing FENs in their current organizations. A study showed that
when job satisfaction is low, even social support from super-
visors and colleagues was not effective in changing the
intentions of nurses who wanted to leave (Van der Heijden
et al., 2010). Nurses, who were not satisfied with their jobs,
often considered inadequate job satisfaction one of the top
causes for leaving their current hospitals, in addition to caus-
ing a poor quality of life (Bae, 2012; Lin, 2009).
Considering the number of KARNs employed in the
United States and the increased interest for them to remain in
their jobs, understanding job satisfaction seems to be the first
step to reducing the turnover behaviors of nurses (Xue,
1
Korea National Open University, Seoul, South Korea
2
Jeju National University, Jeju-si, South Korea
3
Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea
4
Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
Corresponding Author:
Hyo Geun, PhD, MPH, RN, College of Nursing, Jeju National University,
102 Jejudaehak-ro, Jeju-si, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province 63243,
South Korea.
Email: geunhg@gmail.com

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2 Journal of Transcultural Nursing 
2015). However, the literature (Liou, Tsai, & Cheng, 2013;
Xue, 2015) offers little information on job satisfaction and its
correlates (i.e., nursing organizational culture) especially for
KARNs.
Job satisfaction is a multidimensional concept, and it has
been well-documented to be affected by various factors:
demographic characteristics, organization-related variables,
and other turnover correlates (Ea, Griffin, L’Eplattenier, &
Fitzpatrick, 2008; Yi & Jezewski, 2000). An, Cha, Moon,
Ruggiero, and Jang (2014) reported that KARNs had moder-
ate levels of job satisfaction. In that study, life satisfaction,
self-esteem, and perceived stress appeared to predict job sat-
isfaction. The findings in Seo et al. (2014) were similar: Job
satisfaction of KARNs was at a median level, and differed by
marital status, annual income and current position but was
not affected by educational background. In addition, there is
no study comparing the level of job satisfaction of Korean
American nurses educated in two different nations such as
Korea and the United States. Because it is assumed that the
participants’ educational background might affect their per-
ceived job satisfaction and possible change of satisfaction
based on time-varying organizational experiences, further
research is also needed to identify causes underlying those
differences as well.
Organizational commitment has been considered one of
the best indicators for understanding the behaviors of nurses
in terms of the organizations to which they belong. It is
essential to determine level of organizational commitment of
KARNs to understand their adjustment process to new work
environments (Seo et al., 2014), and also to predict their
turnover behaviors (Cheng & Liou, 2011). Little studies have
explored the relationships between organizational commit-
ment and job satisfaction for KARNs. Seo et al. (2014)
investigated the effects of job satisfaction on organizational
commitment for 203 KARNs living in New York and New
Jersey, and found that along with resilience, job satisfaction
was a significant predictor of organizational commitment
and explained 36% of the variation. Another study observed
the association in the reverse direction: Asian FENs with
higher organizational commitment were more likely to have
increased satisfaction regarding their job and performance
(Liou, 2008).
As suggested above, it is believed that the characteristics
related to country of origin or ethnic group affect the distinct
perceptions or behaviors of FENs toward their job satisfac-
tion and organizational commitment, and the demonstrated
differences in job satisfaction have not been consistent
throughout studies (Itzhaki, Ea, Ehrenfeld, & Fitzpatrick,
2013; Liou et al., 2013; Xue, 2015). Therefore, without fur-
ther investigation, it cannot be assumed that factors related to
job satisfaction for U.S.-educated nurses or even Asian FENs
are the same as those for KARNs.
Organizational culture in nursing is unique and formed
mostly by female-dominated groups. It has been considered
to be related to the teamwork of members, cohesiveness, and
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willingness to work (Lee, 2003), all of which are important
factors to the organization. Several studies that examined
hospital nurses in Korea demonstrated that higher satisfac-
tion with organizational culture was associated with higher
job satisfaction or lower intention to leave (Choi, Jang, Park,
& Lee, 2014; Kim & Geun, 2015; Lee, 2003).
Currently, there is no evidence regarding organizational
commitment and culture roles together in predicting the job
satisfaction of KARNs. It remains unclear how KARNs
organization-related experiences influence their perceived
level of satisfaction about their jobs and workplaces in the
United States. Therefore, we believe this study provides
valuable information regarding organization-related indica-
tors that predict job satisfaction in KARNs, and ultimately
contributes to our understanding of the potential factors that
further promote or hinder organizational retention plans in
these nurses.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the organization-
related variables experienced by KARNs working in the
United States, and to investigate factors affecting their per-
ceived job satisfactions.
Method
Study Design and Sample
An exploratory cross-sectional design was used with a con-
venience sample of 163 KARNs working in the United
States. Essentially, the population of this study was nursing
students at Korea National Open University in Seoul, South
Korea, and also immigrant registered nurses living and work-
ing in the United States. Korea National Open University
provides online distance education to overseas Koreans who
were 3-year college graduates and therefore planned to attain
the bachelor’s degree. Eligibility criteria for study inclusion
were KARNs who (a) had received nursing education (3
years college graduated) in Korea and (b) had been working
for more than 6 months in the United States. This survey was
reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of
Korea National Open University. Data were collected over 3
months from April to June 2014. The subjects were able to
participate through a web-based survey. The researcher cre-
ated a web survey link using SurveyMonkey (https://
ko.surveymonkey.com). The site was sent to the members
three times at regular intervals to facilitate recruitment. The
link contained a cover letter, questionnaire, consent form,
and instructions for completing the survey. Confidentiality of
the participants and anonymity of the responses were assured.
The questionnaire on the web did not ask for the participant’s
name, address, or private workplace. Confidentiality was
guaranteed by not using real names but instead a participant
code for the data collected.
Kim et al. 3
During the survey period, 175 participants completed and
returned the e-mails with a response rate of 78.5%. Of the 175
responses, 12 responses were excluded according to the inap-
propriate eligibility criteria for study inclusion (i.e., gradu-
ated from a U.S. school) or answers (i.e., marking all 0).
Therefore, a total of 163 responses were identified as partici-
pants for this study. After survey completion, the participants
received a small gift. According to the G*Power 3 program,
163 responses were deemed appropriate for the stepwise
regressions (power = 80%, α = .05, and effect size = .25).
Measures
Job Satisfaction. In the present study, job satisfaction was
assessed using the Index of Work Satisfaction, an exten-
sively used instrument for measuring the job satisfaction of
nurses. It was originally developed by Stamps, Piedmont,
Slavitt, and Haase (1978) and revised by Lee (2003). Lee
(2003) modified the original tool in order to compare the per-
ceived level of job satisfaction of Korean nurses working in
national or public hospital, and the survey items were reduced
down to 24 from 40. Validity was supported by examining
the strong relations with other organizational attitudes (Kim
& Geun, 2015). This instrument is composed of 24 items
which measures the level of job satisfaction in the five sub-
areas: professional status, organizational polices, pay, doc-
tor–nurse relationship, and interaction. To measure the job
satisfaction of subjects, a 5-point Likert-type scale was used
from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Higher
scores indicated an increased level of job satisfaction.
Observed Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for previous
research were .58 ~ .85 (Lee, 2003) and was .93 in this study
Nursing Organizational Culture.  Nursing Organizational Cul-
ture was used to measure the level of perceptions of the
KARNs on the culture about their nursing organization. This
tool was originally 221 items developed by Yang (1998), and
modified down to 25 items for hospital nurses by Lee (2003).
This instrument is composed of subareas that include pay,
promotion, cohesiveness, mutual trust, sense of pecking
order and rights of decision making, turnover, and work
boundary. All items were measured by a 5-point Likert-type
scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
A higher score indicated that nurses were highly satisfied
with the nursing culture in and around their organizations.
Cronbach’s alpha was .86 in the original study (Yang, 1998)
and .91 in this study.
Organizational Commitment. The Organizational Commit-
ment Questionnaire, developed by Mowday, Steers, and Por-
ter (1979) and revised by Kim (1986), was used to measure
the perceived level of the organizational commitment of
KARNs. This instrument is composed of 15 items and uses a
5-point Likert-type scale format ranging from 1 (strongly
disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A higher score indicated a
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higher level of organizational commitment. This scale has
sound psychometric properties tested by diverse professional
groups (Kim & Han, 2007; Seo, 2012; Seo et al., 2014).
Cronbach’s alpha in the revised study (K. Kim, 1986) was
.89, and the alpha was .92 in the current sample.
Statistical Analysis
The data were analyzed with SPSS/WIN (21.0 version),
the statistical package software. P-values of <.05 were
considered to be statistically significant. Descriptive sta-
tistics were used to understand the general characteristics
of the participants and the levels of the measured vari-
ables. T-tests and analysis of variance were done to com-
pare the dependent variable according to selected
demographic groups. The associations among the three
measured variables were estimated with Pearson correla-
tions. The normality of each variable as well as the sum-
mated mean scale of the measurements was assessed by
normal plots and Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. Stepwise
regressions were done to identify factors associated with
the job satisfaction of KARNs. Multicollinearity for the
regression analysis was confirmed by reviewing the val-
ues of the variance inflation factor (VIF = 1/tolerance).
No problems regarding normality and multicollinearity
were found.
Results
Sociodemographic Characteristics
Table 1 presents the general characteristics of the sample.
Of the 163 subjects, most of them were females (98.8%)
and married (85.9%). Their ages ranged from 22 to 66 years
with a mean age of 47.4 years (SD = 8.74). About one third
of the sample (71.2%) was primarily employed in hospital
settings, and the average number of years of nursing prac-
tice of the participants in their current departments was 8.7
years. The majority of participants worked for less than 44
hours per week (80.6%), on a full-time basis (82.8%), day
shift (73.6%), and as staff (89%). Among them, 34%
reported they had at least one turnover experience in U.S.
employment. Most of them (93.9%) had nursing experi-
ences in Korea, and about a half of them had more than 5
years of nursing experiences.
Descriptive Statistics of the Three Measurements
Table 2 presents the mean scores of the three measure-
ments used. Among them, organizational commitment had
the highest mean score (3.6 ± 0.69) followed by job satis-
faction (3.5 ± 0.58) and nursing organizational culture
(3.1 ± 0.56). Comparing these two measures, the score for
organizational culture had a little lower level (M = 3.1,
SD = 0.56).
4 Journal of Transcultural Nursing 

Table 1.  Demographic and Work-Related Characteristics of Participants (N = 163).

Factors Characteristics Categories N (%)

Demographics Gender Male 2 (1.2)
Female 161 (98.8)
Age (year) ≤39 34 (20.9)
40-49 58 (35.6)
≥50 71 (43.6)
M = 47.4 SD = 8.74
Marital status Single 23 (14.1)
Married 140 (85.9)
Work-related Workplace Hospital 116 (71.2)
Nursing home or others 47 (28.8)
Nursing experience in current ≤4 49 (30.1)
department (year, except <6 5-9 60 (36.8)
months) ≥10 54 (33.1)
M = 8.7 SD = 6.71
Working hours (per week) ≤44 129 (80.6)
45-49 20 (12.5)
≥50 11 (6.9)
Employment status Full-time 135 (82.8)
Part-time 26 (16.0)
Work shift Day 120 (73.6)
Others 42 (25.9)
Current position Staff 145 (89.0)
Charge or head nurse 18 (11.0)
Turnover experiences (times) No 41 (25.2)
1 56 (34.4)
2 35 (21.5)
≥3 31 (19.0)
Nursing experience in Korea No 10 (6.1)
Yes 153 (93.9)
Nursing experience in Korea (year) ≤1 13 (8.0)
2-4 57 (35.0)
≥5 83 (50.9)
M = 6.5 SD = 4.90

Table 2.  Levels of Organizational Commitment, Nursing or at least one turnover experience (p = .003) were more likely
Organizational Culture, and Job Satisfaction (N = 163). to be satisfied with their jobs than nurses in the other groups.
Variables M ± SD
Correlations Among the Measurements
Organizational commitment 3.6 ± 0.69
Nursing organizational culture 3.1 ± 0.56 Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to determine
Job satisfaction 3.5 ± 0.58 the relationships among the three variables (Table 4). Job sat-
isfaction was highly positively correlated with organizational
commitment (r = .85, p < .001) followed by the association
Comparative Statistics According to the with organizational culture (r = .66, p < .001). There was a
moderate level of correlation between organizational com-
Measurements
mitment and organizational culture (r = .58, p < .001).
As shown in Table 3, differences in job satisfaction were tested
according to demographic characteristics. Significant differ-
Predictive Factors for Job Satisfaction
ences were found in age, marital status, workplace, nursing
experience in the current department, and turnover experience. To determine the effects of the covariates identified in the lit-
Those KARNs who were older than 50 years (p = .017), mar- erature that could have a significant influence on job satisfac-
ried (p = .009), hospital-employed (p < .001), had more than tion among KARNs, stepwise regressions were done. For the
10 years of experience in their current departments (p < .001) final analysis, only work-related and demographic variables

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Kim et al. 5

Table 3.  Job Satisfaction According to Demographic and Work-Related Characteristics (N = 163).

Job satisfaction

Characteristics Categories M ± SD F/t p

Age (year) ≤39 3.3 ± 0.67a 4.16 .017
40-49 3.5 ± 0.51ab
≥50 3.6 ± 0.55b
Marital status Single 3.2 ± 0.46 −2.65** .009
Married 3.6 ± 0.58
Workplace Hospital 3.6 ± 0.57 4.59*** <.001
Nursing home or others 3.2 ± 0.46
Nursing experience in current ≤4 3.3 ± 0.57a 9.02*** <.001
department (year, except <6 5-9 3.5 ± 0.58a
months) ≥10 3.8 ± 0.48b
Working hours (per week) ≤44 3.5 ± 0.57 0.33 .720
45-49 3.5 ± 0.66
≥50 3.4 ± 0.52
Employment status Full-time 3.5 ± 0.56 −0.02 .988
Part-time 3.5 ± 0.66
Work shift Day 3.6 ± 0.56 0.83 .407
Others 3.5 ± 0.63
Current position Staff 3.5 ± 0.58 −0.05 .958
Charge or head nurse 3.5 ± 0.52
Turnover experiences No 3.3 ± 0.44 −3.07** .003
Yes 3.6 ± 0.60
Nursing experience in Korea No 3.6 ± 0.72 0.57 .568
Yes 3.5 ± 0.57

Note. Duncan’s multiple range test: a < b.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 4.  Correlations Among Organizational Commitment, Nursing Organizational Culture, and Job Satisfaction.

Organizational commitment Nursing organizational culture Job satisfaction

Organizational commitment 1  
Nursing organizational culture .58*** 1  
Job satisfaction .85*** .66*** 1

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

that showed statistically significant relationships with job sat-
isfaction (p ≤ .05) in Table 3 were included. The final model
showed that four variables (organizational commitment, nurs-
ing organizational culture, marital status, and workplace) sig-
nificantly predicted job satisfaction among the sample
surveyed (F = 115.94, p < .001). The model explains 76.8%
of the variance in job satisfaction, with most of the variation
explained by the organizational commitment and organiza-
tional culture (Table 5).
Discussion
To date, empirical evidence has indicated that Asian FENs
have experienced great challenges in adapting to the U.S.
health care system including language barriers, differences in
nursing practices, cultural diversity, marginalization, and
discrimination(Lin, 2009; Xu, 2007). Despite these chal-
lenges, previous studies have indicated that Asian FENs work-
ing in the United States showed high resiliency, pride in their
work, and high levels of job satisfactions (Ea et al., 2008; Yi &
Jezewski, 2000). Based on the reviews, it is assumed that
higher pay, adequate staffing, and support from management
through recognition of good work increased the job satisfac-
tion of FENs (Berg, Rodriguez, Kading, & De Guzman, 2004).
The mean score for organizational commitment was 3.6
(±0.69) in this study and 3.34 (±0.69) in Seo et al. (2014).
The perceived culture of the nursing organization by KARNs
was at a moderate level (3.1 ± 0.56) which was higher than
that reported by Korean nurses working in Korea (2.7 ± 0.47;
Kim & Geun, 2015). It is not possible to compare the levels
of nursing organizational culture perceived by any other
KARNs because there are no comparable studies.

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6 Journal of Transcultural Nursing 
Table 5.  Stepwise Regression for Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction of Korean American Registered Nurses (N = 163).
Independent variables Β SE
Constant .494 .156
Organizational commitment .558 .044
Nursing organizational culture .238 .052
Marital statusa .201 .074
Workplacea .129 .058
F = 115.94, p < .001
Note. SE = standard error.
a
Dummy coded variables; married is equal to “1” otherwise “0” for marital status, and hospital is equal to “1” otherwise “0” for workplace.
The job satisfaction of FENs is not consistent throughout
studies, and so far, very few studies have examined the per-
ceived level of job satisfaction in KARNs. The KARNs in
this study had a moderate level of job satisfaction (M = 3.5)
which was higher than that of two other studies: KARNs
working in New York (Seo et al., 2014) and a sample of 464
Korean nurses working in Korea (Kim & Han, 2007).
However, a study on nurses from 176 hospitals reported that
U.S.-educated nurses were significantly more satisfied with
their jobs compared with FENs and planned to be at their
current employer 1 year from the time they completed the
questionnaire (Felber Neff & Harman, 2013).
The present study demonstrated differences in job satis-
faction according to demographics and career characteris-
tics: KARNs who were aged more than 50 years, married,
hospital-employed, had worked in their current department
for more than 10 years, and had at least one turnover experi-
ence were more likely to report higher job satisfaction com-
pared with the other nurses. Similar findings were reported
in another study (Seo et al., 2014). It is assumed that older
age, marital status, and longer nursing experience are related
to each other. These characteristics may contribute to make
KARNs feel better with their current workplace or imply that
they are well adjusted to their organization. In addition, turn-
over experience in the past probably made them stay at their
current organizations for about 10 years, although we are not
sure that long stay was due to either good adjustment or
habitual work behavior. To date, we do not have enough evi-
dence about how the job satisfaction of KARNs differs by
their demographic profiles and career characteristics.
Therefore, the findings of this study provide the foundations
for future studies looking at the relationships among them.
Job satisfaction was significantly and positively corre-
lated with organizational commitment (r = .85, p < .001) and
organizational culture (r = .66, p < .001) in this study, which
was supported by the literature on job satisfaction of Korean
nurses (Judge & Bono, 2001; Kwak, Chung, Xu, & Cho,
2010). Because organizational culture is defined as a set of
shared beliefs, values, and norms about the ways things
should be done in an organization (Tzeng, Ketefian, &
Redman, 2002), it is also believed that it is possible to influ-
ence the attitudes and behaviors of KARNs when they are at
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β t p Adjusted R2
3.17 .002  
.669 12.72 <.001 .719
.229 4.59 <.001 .752
.117 2.71 .008 .760
.100 2.23 .027 .768
an organization for a long time (Tsai, 2011). In a similar
sense, those KARNs who had adopted the ways or behaviors
of their host cultures show an increased sense of belonging,
high self-esteem, high sense of achievement, and relatively
higher satisfaction in both work and life (Berg et al., 2004;
Magnusdottir, 2005; Yi & Jezewski, 2000). These findings
are similar to the results of studies conducted in Korea.
Several studies have indicated that organizational cultures or
organizational commitment had significant positive associa-
tions with the job satisfaction of hospital nurses in Korea,
and perceived higher commitments to the hospital and posi-
tive organizational culture ultimately enhanced their job sat-
isfaction (Choi et al., 2014; Kim & Geun, 2015; Lee, Jin, &
Ju, 2011; Lee, 2003). In the study by Choi et al. (2014),
nurses’ job satisfaction was more affected by organizational
culture, especially innovation-oriented culture, than by any
other characteristics.
Using stepwise regressions, this study found that that cul-
ture of the organization involved and the organizational com-
mitment were important factors influencing job satisfaction,
as they are for nurses in Korea (Kim & Han, 2007; Lee et al.,
2011). That is, nurses migrating from Korea also have con-
cerns about the culture of the organization in which they
become involved, and they consider their commitments to
the organization as regards job satisfaction. Based on these
results, therefore, culturally adaptive counseling and strate-
gies based on the experiences of KARNs are needed to allow
KARNs to adjust to their new organizational environments
and cultures for increased job satisfaction and retention
levels.
The current study also indicated that marital status was
significantly associated with the job satisfaction of nurses. In
the marital state, it is assumed that receiving social support
from a spouse can ameliorate the consequence of job stress
and help improve job satisfaction (Xue, 2015). On the other
hand, marital status could be a proxy in that the social and
economic needs of the KARNs made them stay in their cur-
rent jobs. For example, married nurses, who have children
and greater financial burdens, probably wanted to keep their
current positions (Bae, 2012). In addition, nurses who
worked in hospitals were more likely to report higher job
satisfaction compared with other nurses working in nursing
Kim et al. 7
homes or elsewhere. Previous studies also showed similar
findings that nurses were more satisfied with their jobs when
they worked in hospitals that had more highly educated
nurses, adequate supportive staffing, and positive practice
environments (Clarke & Aiken, 2008; Naude & McCabe,
2005).
Limitations
This study has several limitations to be considered in
future studies. First, the targeted students are currently reg-
istered for the RN-BSN course (3-year graduates), result-
ing in a lack of representativeness of the registered nurse
population. In addition, the population is limited to one
nationality and two areas in the United Sates; thus, gener-
alizability of the findings is not warranted. Various sam-
ples with multinationality backgrounds are needed in
future studies. Second, for the subareas of the three major
variables, discriminant validity was needed which was not
done in this study. For example, pay was a subarea of both
job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The con-
tents were not exactly same but possibly correlated with
each other. Third, because of the nature of the cross-sec-
tional design used in this study, we were not able to estab-
lish causal relationships among the three variables. This
study hypothesized that organizational commitment and
nursing organizational culture lead to job satisfaction, but
it is also possible that job satisfaction may produce posi-
tive organizational culture and commitment in advance.
We still hesitate to confirm that one affected the other
because two of them were highly correlated (r = .85) in this
study, and we cannot clarify which one comes first. Further
studies using longitudinal designs are strongly recom-
mended. Fourth, although it is believed that the partici-
pants’ culture, experiences, and educational background
originating from Korea might affect their perceived job
satisfaction about work in the United States, this study did
not capture their partial effects on the study outcome. In
addition, the differences in the perceived job satisfaction
of Korean nurses when they were in Korea and in the
United States are not comparable due to the cross-sectional
design of this study. Therefore, considering that their job
satisfaction can be compromised by their preculture and
experiences before entry into U.S. organizations, further
studies are recommended to investigate their predictive
influences on the outcome variable, job satisfaction. Last,
the measures used were originally revised for Korean
nurses working in Korea and not for KARNs. Though the
measures were translated into Korean and included the
original meanings of the measures to the greatest extent
possible, their appropriateness for use in the present con-
text can nonetheless be questioned. Therefore, further
studies using appropriate versions of these measures are
needed to capture the targeted organizational characteris-
tics of the study subjects.
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Recommendation and Implications for Nursing
Practice and Future Research
One of the practical findings of this study is that organiza-
tional commitment was the most powerful variable predict-
ing job satisfaction, with the nursing organizational culture
also serving as a major explanatory variable, as reported in
other studies targeting Korean nurses. That is, although
KARNs were involved in a culturally different organiza-
tional environment, it was found that commitment and the
culture of the organization are very important factors influ-
encing their perceived satisfaction on the job. Specifically,
understanding the current nursing organizational culture is
important when dealing with people and their actions and
changes, when pursuing common goals, and for overall
effectiveness. Studies of the various elements of culture and
the effects of culturally adaptive programs on the transitions
made by KARNs to their new environments are needed.
Because we still do not have enough evidence on predictors
that influence job satisfaction, further studies should be con-
ducted to identify potential factors, such as lack of social net-
works or working multiple jobs, ultimately leading to
managers having enhanced insights into the needs and behav-
iors of KARNs in organizations which would subsequently
reduce turnovers. For example, understanding that FENs tend
to hold multiple nursing positions is helpful to managers
because they try to better understand the employment needs of
their nursing staff who work in their organizations (Spetz,
Gates, & Jones, 2014). In addition, considering the increasing
proportion of FENs in U.S. hospitals, developing programs to
increase job satisfaction is a very important step toward
improving patient care as well as nursing retention.
Conclusion
In this study, organizational commitment was the strongest
predictor of job satisfaction followed by nursing organiza-
tional culture. In addition, marital status and workplace con-
tributed to increased levels of job satisfaction. Understanding
these factors could be used to develop effective programs for
KARNs to improve their perceived satisfaction of their jobs
which would ultimately lead to their retention.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.
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