Term of Award

Spring 1994

Degree Name

Master of Nursing

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Department

School of Nursing

Committee Chair

Camille Stern

Committee Member 1

Marilyn Buck

Committee Member 2

Rosalyn Roesel

Abstract

Job satisfaction has been studied extensively in the nursing field. This is the result of high turnover rates in the profession. Since job satisfaction has been linked to turnover, many studies have focused on this issue. Herzberg's Two Factor Theory of Motivation is a relevant theory in understanding and measuring job satisfaction. This theory provided a theoretical framework for this study.

The purpose of this descriptive comparative study was to determine the level of job satisfaction in registered nurses working in the home health care and the hospital settings. In addition, differences in the level of job satisfaction were described. There was a total of 41 respondents in a random sample of the two groups of nurses. Twenty four of the respondents were from a large southeastern medical center and 17 were from its affiliate home health care agency. The "Index of Work Satisfaction" questionnaire was administered to the participants to measure perceived level of job satisfaction. The 44 item Likert scale determined overall level of satisfaction and divided the total score into specific job components. A nine item demographic survey was also completed by the participants.

Analysis of the questionnaire and demographic data included frequency and descriptive statistics. A total scale score of satisfaction and total scale means were computed. In addition, component total scores and component mean scores were calculated. The descriptive statistics were computed for both groups of nurses. In addition, a t-test was performed on the two groups of nurses to calculate significant differences in job satisfaction.

Significant differences were found between the two groups of nurses in level of overall satisfaction (t = 2.5, p = 0.0153) and when subdivided by job components. Specifically, home health care nurses were more satisfied with the organizational policies (t = 2.92, p = 0.06), interactions (t = 2.258, p = 0.0296), and task requirements (t = 2.22, p = 0.032) than hospital nurses. Salary was rated similarly by both groups of nurses. Autonomy and professional status were ranked slightly higher by HHC nurses, but there was not a statistically significant difference in the two groups. The level of significance established for this study was p< 0.05.

The results of higher level of job satisfaction of HHC nurses was not expected. Few studies have been conducted that specifically measure differences between the two groups of nurses. However, the implications to hospital administrators is clear. Professional nurses in this study want their jobs redesigned to include increased salary, a voice in organizational policies, and satisfying job duties.

Copyright

To obtain a full copy of this work, please visit the campus of Georgia Southern University or request a copy via your institution's Interlibrary Loan (ILL) department. Authors and copyright holders, learn how you can make your work openly accessible online.

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