Thesis

the findings in connection to life satisfaction and burnout seem to be rather inconclusive and
since the present research failed to find a connection between burnout and life satisfaction, it
cannot contribute with arguments for either sides. More research is needed in this area in
general in order to determine if life satisfaction can be connected to burnout. However, also
more specific research needs to be conducted in order to find out if a connection between life
satisfaction and burnout can be made for nurses specifically and also if the connection can be
made for emergency ward nurses in particular.
Life satisfaction in connection to burnout needs thus further research in order fill the gap
between the inconclusive findings. Also, Lee, Hwang, Kim & Daly (2004) state that when it
comes to research done in the field of nursing, researchers have focused on work stress and
how nurses are responding to their working environment, like level of satisfaction with the
work and burnout. However, not much attention has been paid to the field of nurses and their
well-being like for example life satisfaction. It would, however, be important to conduct
research in this area since nurses’ life satisfaction could influence their performance at work
and the job retention. Life satisfaction connected to the work setting and health has been
looked into but not so much in the field of nursing. In addition, since the research clearly
shows inconclusive findings in relation to burnout and life satisfaction it would be important
to conduct more research in order to contribute with more information in this area and thus
confirm or disconfirm previous findings.
Nemcek & James (2007) conducted a study which wanted to investigate nurses’ opinions
about factors related to their working environment and health to be able to see how these are
connected to each other and to life satisfaction. In their study both personal factors and work
related factors contributed to elevated levels of life satisfaction. As a continuation of Nemcek
& James’ (op. cit.) research, the present study could have looked into the nine work related
factors, as the nurses working environment, to see how those are connected to life satisfaction.
It could have been investigated whether the nine work related factors would have contributed
to higher levels of life satisfaction, just like in Nemcek & James’ (op. cit.) research. Also
Lyubomirsky et al. (2005) looked into the area of life satisfaction and the work environment
for nurses, and they found that increased levels of life satisfaction were connected to low
levels of job dissatisfaction at work. As a continuation of Lyubomirsky et al’s (2005) study,
the present study could have looked into if dissatisfaction with the job for the Hungarian and
Swedish nurses would have resulted in lower or higher levels of life satisfaction.