Job satisfaction among hospital pharmacy personnel

Job satisfaction of hospital pharmacists and of support personnel in two Arizona cities were compared. A survey composed of job-satisfaction measures that have been used in previous research was sent to all hospital pharmacy personnel (270 pharmacists and 208 support personnel) in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. Sixteen facet-free questions measured overall job satisfaction. Thirteen facet-specific indicators were measured. Differences were significant if p less than 0.05. Data from a national survey of hospital pharmacists and the general population were included for comparative purposes. Usable questionnaires were returned by 74.8% (202) and 62.5% (131) of the pharmacists and support personnel, respectively. Support personnel reported lower mean scores than pharmacists on all 13 facet-specific measures; 10 of these were significantly different. Pharmacists had a mean score of 3.0 (representing satisfied) on only two of the 13 facets, however. Age, sex, academic degree, position held, and tenure on present job had no effect on satisfaction for support personnel. For the pharmacists, consistent and significant differences were found in facet-specific measures relative to age, tenure, and position held. Clinical and research pharmacists reported the highest mean scores. Pharmacists in the 23-28 age group reported the lowest mean scores on all 13 facets. The most and least satisfied pharmacists were at their present job six years and 13-24 months, respectively. Pharmacists appeared to be more satisfied than support personnel on all facet-free measures, and about as satisfied as the general population in 1977. The authors concluded that since the successful role expansion of pharmacists will require a concurrent expansion for support personnel, efforts should be implemented to improve job satisfaction among support personnel.