[Factors associated with job satisfaction in home care nurses]

Although there have been articles written in the literature on nurse job satisfaction, a national study addressing the job satisfaction of home care nurses in Taiwan has never been performed before.

The purpose of this study was to investigate home care nurse job satisfaction in Taiwan and correlated factors.

A cross-sectional approach was used to survey participants, who comprised clinical home care nurses currently working in public / private hospitals or independent healthcare institutions in Taiwan. Qualified nurses in the potential study sample were first contacted by phone, and structured questionnaires were delivered by post. A total of 365 questionnaires were sent, with 337 questionnaires returned.

Overall job satisfaction for the study subjects was 67.74%, with the subscale "satisfaction with the job itself" scoring the highest and the subscale "satisfaction with supervisors" scoring the lowest among the five job satisfaction subscales. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that those who had served as home nursing practicum course instructors, were over 35-years of age or had higher perceived job complexity tended to have higher job satisfaction. Higher work pressure was associated with less job satisfaction. Those who received 10-20 hours of continuing education had a higher average job satisfaction than those who received continuing education for either more than 20 hours or less than 10 hours. Those nurses who had higher work values and were currently married demonstrated higher job satisfaction. These seven factors explained 49.7% of total variance.

Study results may serve as reference for institutions to help promote higher job satisfaction in home care nurses. Home care nurse job satisfaction may be improved by providing an appropriate number of hours of continuing education and implementing a nurse advancement system in home care in order to increase intrinsic work value.