This study is a qualitative study with an aim to answer the research question, " What do nurses consider a reward and how can these rewards be categorized?". The researchers discussed the reason for concentrating on nurses only to conduct the study is because nurses consist of the largest group of paid hospital staff. The researchers discussed that previous research has identified rewards for nurses based on work-related behaviors or attitudes. Pay was noted to be the most extrinsic reward for nurses in previous studies, this study examined the possibility of other types of rewards preferred by nurses. The researchers mentioned the previous studies concentrated mainly on financial rewards for nurses. Prior to this study the researchers noted that there was not a study that identified and categorized rewards perceived as received by nurses for doing their jobs, based on that the researchers found reason to conduct this current study.

The researchers conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 Dutch speaking nurses who worked within 5 Belgian private, non-profit hospitals. Of those 20 Dutch nurses, 6 were males and 14 were females with a median age range of 33 years old and a median nursing experience of 11 years. The participants were contacted by phone, the researchers provided a brief explanation of the purpose of the study prior to asking them if they wished to participate. The researchers were able to reach the information saturation point once they completed 15 interviews, meaning that the information provided by the participants seemed to be repetitive. Once the nurses completed the interviews, they completed a 34-item questionnaire. This questionnaire allowed the nurses to use a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5 scoring items as being perceived as a reward. The three reward categories on the questionnaire were financial rewards, non-financial rewards, and psychological rewards. Discourse analysis was used to analyze the interview data, the software used for the data used an open coding system based on words and sentences. The results of the questionnaire revealed that nurse scored the non-financial reward of the "appreciation of the work by others" the highest. Content analysis was used to produce the results from the interviews conducted, those results showed that the nurses mentioned financial rewards often. Results from the interview also showed that 14 out of the 15 nurses interviewed perceived their monthly pay as a reward for their job.

The results of the study were able to answer the research question of "What do nurses consider a reward and how can these rewards be categorized?". The study also identified that some employees may find that other reward types are more important than others and this should be considered when conducting future research. Demographical variables influenced the perception of the rewards, younger and less experienced nurses considered promotion possibilities as a reward. The older senior nurses considered job security and working for a hospital with a good reputation a reward. Limitations to the study were the small sample size used due to the qualitative research technique. The other study limitation was the non-financial subcategory of "presents", the coding and interviewing methods used did not give specifics on what the presents consisted of.

Although this study is not directly related to stress it is important for nursing leadership to recognize and reward nurses for the stressful job that they do. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the phenomenon of burnout among nurses. Based on the research I have personally done for my thesis project one intervention that can help combat stress and burnout with nurses is positive recognition and reward for their work efforts. Also per my research a contributing factor to nurse burnout is feelings of low self efficacy, nurses began to see their job as a threat and feel that they need to avoid it. When this happens nurses can lose interest and have a lower level of commitment to the organization they work for. in setting career goals During the COVID-19 pandemic recognition and reward and needed more than ever to help with nurse retention and to boost morale. The theme found in this study is that nurses want rewards for their behaviors at work, the rewards do not have to a finical reward, nurse were accepting of non-finical rewards as well. Evaluating the causes and sources of stress and burnout through research is a way to find interventions to apply to clinical practice by nursing leadership.