Development and Psychometric Validation of the Health Professionals' Job Satisfaction Scale

Background/Objective: Job satisfaction is a key determinant of healthcare professionals' well-being, quality of care, and organisational performance. In Portugal, although validated tools exist for nurses, there is no comprehensive instrument for different professional groups. This study aimed to develop and validate the Health Professionals' Job Satisfaction Scale (ESPST-Escala de Satisfação dos Profissionais de Saúde no Trabalho), designed to assess job satisfaction across diverse healthcare categories. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with 549 professionals from a Portuguese hospital. The ESPST was developed from literature review and expert focus groups, comprising 50 Likert-scale items. Construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and reliability was assessed via Cronbach's alpha. Results: The EFA revealed an eight-factor structure, explaining 70.3% of total variance. The KMO value was 0.963, and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (p < 0.001). The factors were: leadership and management, nature of work, colleagues, recognition by service users, career progression, human resources, institutional protocols, and peer recognition. Cronbach's alpha was 0.973 for the total scale, with subscales above 0.84, indicating excellent reliability. Conclusions: The ESPST is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing job satisfaction among healthcare professionals across different categories. Its multidimensional scope allows clinical and research applications, supporting organisational strategies to improve professional well-being and quality of care. Future studies should include confirmatory analyses to strengthen its psychometric robustness.