The dissertation is comprised of two separate but related studies concerned with shortages of registered nurses (RNs). Both studies seek to determine which variables predict the number of annual hours of work RNs are willing to offer employers. The first study is guided by economic theory and uses secondary survey data from the 1984 National Sample Survey of the Population of RNs ($N$ = 31,913) to analyze the effects of economic, educational, and socio-demographic variables on the annual number of hours worked. Regression coefficients estimated for an RN's hourly wage, family income, nursing education, young children, age, gender, and race/ethnicity exerted statistically significant ($p$ $<$.05) effects on the annual number of hours worked. The results imply that raising an RN's wage would be effective in increasing number of hours worked.

The second study is guided by a theoretical framework in which the economic perspective compliments a nursing perspective that attributes shortages to low levels of work satisfaction. The objective is to determine if work satisfaction exerts any influence on the annual number of hours worked when controlling for the effects of economic, educational, and socio-demographic variables. Data on RN work satisfaction was collected by a survey of Michigan RNs ($N$ = 403). RNs employed in hospitals were the least satisfied with their work whereas those who worked in ambulatory settings were the most satisfied. Unlike the results of the first study, regression coefficients estimated for a RN's wage, family income, nursing education, race/ethnicity, and most age variables did not exert statistically significant ($p$ $<$.05) effects on number of hours worked. In most regression analyses, coefficients estimated for RN work satisfaction were negative but not statistically significant. Only when the scores of the most satisfied RNs were used in the regression analysis did RN work satisfaction exert a positive, but not statistically significant effect on hours worked. Of the predictor variables, control over work schedules and the presence of young children exerted the greatest influence on hours worked.