The purpose of this study was to describe the job retainment factors and the level of job satisfaction, and to identify the relationship between job retainment and the level of job satisfaction among the registered nurses working in hospitals. Four hundred eight registered nurses currently employed at 8 hospitals in Seoul were surveyed for the study. The 39 item, 5 point likert scale questionnare was developed by the researcher. The internal consistency of job satisfaction was. 86 and that of job retainment was. 90 in Cronbach's alpha test. The data sas collected from July 15 to July 30, 1993. The SPSS/PC+statistical program was used for data analysis. The descriptive analysis of the characteristics of the subjects, the level of job satisfaction and the job retainment factors was done. The relationship between the job satisfaction level and the job retainment factors was tested with. the Pearson Correlation Coefficient analysis, and thd differences of job retainment scores among the sample was tested with t-test and ANDVA. The results of the study were summarized. 1. The mean age of the subjects was 29.7 years, 41.7% of them were married. 71.1% of them were 3 years course graduates, 71.8% of them were staff nurses, and the mean duration of experience was 6 years. 2. The factors related to professionalism(3.43), society(3.31), and interpersonal relationship(3.29) were significant in job retainment. The maximum score was 5.0 Two other factors, personal(3.05) and organization(2.83) factors, also showed relatively high scores. 3. The factors to the job satisfaction showed similar pattern as job retainment: professionalism (3.47), society (3.33), finance(3.31), interpersonal relationship(3.02), and organization(2.72). 4. Society related factors(r=.7420, p<.00l) and professionalism(r=.7249, p<.00l) had high correlation with job retainment. Personal(r=.6372, p<.001) and organizational(r=.3597, p<.001) factors had moderate relationship to job retainment. Finance(r=.3597, p<.00l) had significant but weak relationship to job retainment. 5. Age, marital status, job position, departmental involvement, experience, and continuity of employment of the sample showed significant differences in job retainment. However, the period of job retainment, number of children, educational level, type of hospital, previous employment experience were not significant. 6. lndiviuals older than 40 years of age, who were married, who held the position of charge or head nurse position, who worked in central supply or nursing administration showed significantly high job retainment score. This research indicates that the professionalism is the most significant factor in job retainment. In order to retain more experienced nurses, it is important to improve the profesionalism among nurses.