Examining job satisfaction among perfusionists: a brief report from Istanbul

To investigate the level of job satisfaction among perfusionists in Turkey.

The cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2012 comprising a randomly selected group of 52 perfusionists from public and private healthcare institutions in Istanbul. The questionnaire contained items about the socio-demographic characteristics of the perfusionists and an instrument especially designed to investigate their job satisfaction. Multiple logistic regression models were applied with age, gender, work setting, income, professional evaluation, possibility to improve and qualify, professional relations and time spent in current job. SPSS 10 was used for data analysis.

The 52 perfusionists were selected from a total of 112 working in Istanbul (46.42%).The study sample had 38 (73%) females and 14 (27%) males. The level of overall job satisfaction was 55.9 +/- 4.9 (95% CI 49.05-64.10). The most dissatisfying areas were income, possibility to improve and qualify, and professional evaluation (p < 0.05), while the most satisfaying area was professional relations.

Interventions are needed to increase job satisfaction among perfusionists. Income and possibility for professional development, professional relations and evaluation have the most positive impact on perfusionists' overall job satisfaction while work environmental factors are less important. Similarities of the results with other overseas studies suggest that they have international value.