Staff pharmacists' job attitudes and job performance

An instrument was developed and used to evaluate job performance of staff pharmacists, and the relationship between performance and job satisfaction was examined. In designing the performance rating instrument (PRI), 23 measurable work-related behaviors of hospital staff pharmacists were identified through interviews with pharmacy directors. For each of the 15 behaviors ranked most important by hospital pharmacy directors, a four-point scale of performance was defined. Job satisfaction was measured using the job descriptive index (JDI) augmented by questions specific to hospital pharmacy practice. Staff pharmacists at eight hospitals completed the JDIs, and their directors completed the corresponding PRIs. Of 66 sets of PRIs and JDIs distributed, 38 pairs of usable responses were returned. There were a number of significant correlations between individual items on the PRI and JDI, but the correlation between the composite scores for the two scales was not significant. JDI and PRI scores decreased with age and years of practice, but the decrease was not significant. The PRI is a short, understandable method of quantifying hospital staff pharmacist performance. No significant correlation between job satisfaction and performance was found.