Objective: To assess factors linked with job satisfaction of Australian nurses and midwives. Design: Descriptive survey. Setting Public hospital, aged care facility and community health centres. Subjects A total of 562 enrolled and registered nurses and midwives were selected by convenience sampling when they attended professional conferences. The return rate was 41.4 per cent. A sample size of 550 was used to calculate overall results for job satisfaction. Main outcome measure Factors contributing to nurses' and midwives' job satisfaction. Results: The majority (96%) of this sample of nurses and midwives were moderately or highly satisfied with their work and this was not diminished by experiencing moderate amounts of work-related stress. Factors positively related to high levels of job satisfaction were 1) enjoying their current area of practice; 2) feeling well-suited to the particular type of work; 3) wanting to stay in their current area of practice; and 4) having no intention of leaving the profession. Conclusion: For this group of professionally engaged nurses and midwives, enjoying their work and perceiving themselves as well-suited to it were the major contributory factors for job satisfaction. The finding that nurses and midwives are dealing with moderate effects of stress does not reflect as job dissatisfaction. This finding is important because it challenges existing belief that stress may be a cause of job dissatisfaction.