Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
2-20-2026
First Advisor
Sandra King
Second Advisor
Beatrice Bailey
Abstract
Nurses frequently forgo scheduled lunch breaks due to high workload demands, inadequate staffing, and organizational cultures. Consistently skipping breaks has been associated with reduced happiness and lower job satisfaction, which may ultimately compromise the quality of patient care. This quality improvement (QI) project examined whether the structured observance of scheduled lunch breaks enhances nurses’ subjective happiness and job satisfaction. Guided by Lewin’s Change Theory and the Donabedian Theoretical Framework and implemented using the Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) framework, the project employed a quasi-experimental pre–post design during a six-week implementation period. Ten full-time nurses participated in the project. Investigator-designed Subjective Happiness and Job Satisfaction instruments were used to assess outcomes before and after implementation of the intervention. Internal consistency reliability was strong with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.88 and 0.89 computed for Subjective Happiness and Job Satisfaction instruments, respectively. Because the data were non-normally distributed, intervention effects were evaluated using two-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results demonstrated statistically significant improvements in both subjective happiness (Z = −2.81, p < .005) and job satisfaction (Z = −2.80, p < .005) following the intervention. These findings suggest that protecting nurses’ right to uninterrupted lunch breaks can meaningfully improve their well-being. The implications extend to clinic administrators, nurse managers, and policymakers, highlighting the need for sustainable staffing models and organizational practices that prioritize nurses’ rest periods to support workforce happiness, job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Dumkwu, Evelyn O., "Improving Lunch Break to Enhance Nurse Happiness and Job Satisfaction" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 305.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/305
