Work expectations and organizational attachment of hospital pharmacists

Measures of expectations, organizational attachment, and job satisfaction were studied among hospital pharmacists. Pharmacists in 42 Chicago-area hospitals were asked to respond to 18 closed-ended statements designed to measure job and profession satisfaction and the degree to which the respondents' expectations of their work and profession had been met. From the sample of 529 pharmacists, 217 (41%) usable responses were received. Pharmacists generally agreed that their expectations toward work, salary, department standards, and use of professional abilities had been met. However, it was found that younger pharmacists and those performing primarily staff duties had lower ratings for met expectations and satisfaction than did their counterparts. Measures of expectations and satisfaction with current jobs consistently outranked similar measures of opinions toward the profession. Organizational attachment appeared to be highly correlated with age and with tenure of employment; younger pharmacists and those with one to seven years of concurrent employment were more predisposed to leaving the organization. It was noted in particular that the factors exerting a strong influence to leave the organization involved management-related activities and responsibilities. Managers can encourage organizational attachment by providing promotion opportunities and leadership in the structure and facilitation of job duties and by responding to individual needs.