The association of professional self-concept and teamwork on job satisfaction in Korean emergency department nurses: a cross-sectional study

Purpose: This study aimed to derive insights into professional self-concept, teamwork, and job satisfaction among emergency department (ED) nurses and to prepare basic data for improving job satisfaction among ED nurses. Methods: The study was conducted between October 2023 and April 2024 at two certified tertiary hospitals and one general hospital in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, among 124 ED nurses. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.0, and the analysis included descriptive statistics, the t-test, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. Results: The factors affecting job satisfaction in ED nurses were professional self-concept (β = .66, p < .001), teamwork (β = .17, p = .003), and ED work satisfaction (β = .17, p = .003), and the overall explanatory power of the model was 67.7%. Conclusion: This study makes a significant contribution by demonstrating that professional self-concept and teamwork can increase job satisfaction in ED nurses. Therefore, as a strategy to increase job satisfaction through improving ED nurses’ professional self-concept and teamwork, effort should be made to apply team simulation programs that provide education and self-improvement opportunities for frequent diseases and situations encountered in the ED, and to communicate effectively about patient treatment strategies.