Does Work Shift Moderate the Relationship between Work Environment and Job Satisfaction?: An Analysis of Nurses in South Korea

Work environment has been considered one of the most important factors in job performance and it is believed to positively affect job satisfaction according to the extant literature. Three-shift rotation has been perceived as a work type to avoid but an inevitable choice for some organizations, even though it is mentally and physically harmful to employees. It is because three-shift work can lead to physical stress or work-life imbalance. However, until recently, the perception of three-shift rotation had been changed to one of a flexible work pattern for employees. Thus, this study tries to investigate whether work environment influences job satisfaction and how public employees in three-shift rotation change their perception of the relationship between work environment and job satisfaction. After testing the relationships by using a survey of nurses at a large general hospital in South Korea, We find that work environment has a positive impact on job satisfaction. However, we do not find any statistically significant clues to prove that three-shift work rotation is negatively related to job satisfaction.