Objective To explore the satisfaction of tertiary hospital employees, and to offer a basis for human resources management and decision-making improvement in hospitals.Methods The total area of China was divided into eastern, central and western areas by stratification sampling, and totally 15716 employees from 104 university hospitals and provincial hospitals in the three areas were selected by convenience sampling and investigated. This study was conducted online, and the time of sample return was from October 1st to November 30th, 2015. The employees were investigated for their satisfaction with the status of hospital management with the National Monitoring of Employees' Satisfaction Scale, which took into consideration such characteristics as position, sex, age, marital status, education, income, labor relations, working years and title.Results As for the position, the employees specialized in nursing showed the highest degree of satisfaction (91.10 points), while the employees working on medical positions had the lowest degree of satisfaction (85.34 points). Female employees had a higher degree of satisfaction than male ones, and married employees had a slightly lower degree of satisfaction than unmarried employees. Medical employees at different levels showed different degrees of satisfaction. Clinical front-line employees had lower satisfaction with their give and take than the employees on other positions.Conclusions The HR department of hospitals should pay attention to the employees' real concerns, and take measures to improve medical and nursing staffs' job satisfaction.