This study was intended to provide basic data for reducing the career plateaus of clinical nurses.

The participants were 288 clinical nurses who worked at five hospitals, general hospitals, and tertiary hospitals in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Chungcheong provinces and had more than one year of clinical experience. The research data were collected from December 26, 2022, to April 7, 2023, using structured questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS software. The study conducted mean, standard deviation, percentage, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson‘s correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis.

Perceived organizational support was identified as the factor influencing structural career plateaus. Factors influencing content career plateaus included growth needs, skill variety, organizational justice, and perceived organizational support.

The above research results suggest that to increase the motivation of clinical nurses and reduce career plateaus, it is necessary to improve awareness and systems of human resource management at the organizational level.