Work satisfaction of Japanese public health nurses: Assessing validity and reliability of a scale

Factors associated with professional confidence in Japanese public health nurses: A cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVES

To clarify factors associated with professional confidence in Japanese public health nurses (PHNs) and to examine the relationship between professional confidence and professional competency.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SAMPLE

Public health nurses (N = 1,512) working in local government agencies.

MEASUREMENTS

An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire with questions on demographic characteristics (sex, age, experience as a PHN, educational background, affiliation, and position) and 34 items on professional confidence developed by the researchers based on a literature review was administered. Factors associated with the professional confidence were extracted through an exploratory factor analysis, and construct validity of the confidence was verified through a confirmatory factor analysis.

RESULTS

In total, 883 responses (response rate, 58.4%) were received; only 467 (30.9%) of them were valid. On the basis of the exploratory factor analysis results, professional confidence included 17 items, with the following four factors: "technical practice," "effortful learning," "exploring the evidence," and "educators in workplace." The goodness-of-fit model in the confirmatory factor analysis proved the construct validity of professional confidence.

CONCLUSIONS

Professional confidence was gained by self-improvement that reflects on public health practice. Professional confidence underpinned the generalist level of professional competency among PHNs.

Developing a comprehensive career development scale for public health nurses in Japan

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to develop a scale that can comprehensively measure public health nurses'(PHNs) career development and to verify the validity and reliability of that scale.

DESIGN AND SAMPLES

This study is a cross-sectional investigation. The participants were 1,009 PHNs working in a government facility in Japan. A total of 586 participants who had been working for more than 3 years as PHNs were analyzed.

MEASUREMENTS

Anonymous self-response questionnaires included items on professional awareness, practical competency, and job satisfaction. We conducted exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to clarify the construct validity of the scale. The reliability was examined by the Cronbach's α coefficient. The validity was examined by an external reference relevant validity and the known-group method.

RESULTS

The scale was structured with 32 items covering three factors: "community activities, policy, and management," "PHN identity," and "foundations as a PHN." The Cronbach's α coefficients were all greater than 0.9. In confirmatory factor analysis, the scale showed acceptable goodness of fit.

CONCLUSIONS

The comprehensive career development scale for PHNs proved its reliability and validity. This scale may be useful to promote PHN identity and competency comprehensively in basic education and in-charge education.

A Web-based Survey of Marital Quality and Job Satisfaction among Chinese Nurses

PURPOSE

This study aimed to use a web-based survey to investigate the correlation between job satisfaction and marital quality and to identify the association of demographics with job satisfaction and marital quality.

METHODS

Married nurses (N = 2,296) completed the questionnaires. Correlations and linear regression analyses were carried out.

RESULTS

Both marital quality and job satisfaction were relatively low. Additionally, marital quality was positively correlated with job satisfaction. Age, marital status (in years) and average daily hours spent with spouse had positive impact on job satisfaction. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that age, monthly income, average daily hours spent with spouse and marital quality were positively associated with job satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

Because of the shifts nurses working, there is little time for nurses to spend with their spouses and family. It is recommended that hospital leaders could provide more flexibility with nurses' shift choices so nurses can arrange their work-life balance better. Other considerations like reducing workload and reducing working hours should be promoted as options. Nurse managers could offer counseling services including strategies to cope with the balance between work and life. This effort could improve job satisfaction and reduce the rate of turnover of nurses.

Rasch analysis of Stamps's Index of Work Satisfaction in nursing population

AIM

One of the most commonly used tools for measuring job satisfaction in nursing is the Stamps Index of Work Satisfaction. Several studies have reported on the reliability of the Stamps' tool based on traditional statistical model. The aim of this study was to apply the Rasch model to examine the adequacy of Stamps's Index of Work Satisfaction for measuring nurses' job satisfaction cross-culturally and to determine the validity and reliability of the instrument using the Rasch criteria.

DESIGN

A secondary data analysis was conducted on a sample of 556 registered nurses from two countries.

METHODS

The RUMM 2030 software was used to analyse the psychometric properties of the Index of Work Satisfaction.

RESULTS

The persons mean location of -0.018 approximated the items mean of 0.00, suggesting a good alignment of the measure and the traits being measured. However, at the items level, some items were misfiting to the Rasch model.

An Investigation of Nurses' Job Satisfaction in a Private Hospital and Its Correlates

Background:

Nurses’ job satisfaction and job stress are important issues regarding their turnovers. While there are some recent descriptive studies on job satisfaction in public hospitals, very limited research was found on this topic in private hospital setting. It is worth to examine the job satisfaction of nurses and its correlates in such a specific hospital context in Hong Kong, by which the findings can be compared with those in public hospitals, and across countries.

Aims:

To investigate nurses’ job satisfaction, job stress and intention to quit of nurses in a private hospital, and the correlates of the nurses’ job satisfaction.

Design:

A cross-sectional, descriptive survey study was conducted.

Methods:

By using stratified random sampling in terms of nature of wards/units and working ranks, 139 full-time nurses who were working in the 400-bed private hospital for at least 6 months and provided direct nursing care were recruited in this study. Data were collected by employing a set of self-administered structured questionnaires, consisting of the Index of Work Satisfaction (job satisfaction), Anxiety-Stress Questionnaire (job stress), Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire (intention to quit), and socio-demographic data.

Results:

With a response rate of 74.3%, the results of the 139 respondents showed that the nurses in the private hospital had an overall moderate level of satisfaction with their work and rated the professional status as the highest satisfied domain. The nurses also reported moderate levels of job stress and intention to quit. The nurses’ job satisfaction was negatively correlated with their job stress and intention to quit; whereas, the nurses’ job stress was positively correlated with their intention to quit. The nurses with older in age and more post-registration experience and/or working experience in the private hospital indicated a higher level of job satisfaction, particularly with ‘Pay’ and ‘Autonomy’.

Conclusion:

The findings suggest that the nurses in the private hospital are moderately stressful and satisfied with their work environment and relationships. A few socio-demographic characteristics of these nurses such as their age and years of clinical experiences were associated with their levels of job satisfaction and/or stress. The findings provided information for private hospitals and healthcare organizations about the need and areas for improvement of nurse’s job satisfaction, thus strengthening their recruitment and retention.

The public health nursing work environment: review of the research literature

Public health nurses (PHNs) work to address critical health issues at the individual, family, and population levels. In recent years, a global nursing shortage has posed a significant challenge to the recruitment and retention of PHNs. Hospital-based research has shown that a healthy and productive work environment is vital to successful nursing recruitment and retention. Specific organizational characteristics have been linked to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job vacancies, and turnover rates. Although it is presumed that similarities exist between the public health and acute care nursing work environments, further evaluation is required. This literature review was conducted to identify studies that characterize the PHN work environment. An online database search was conducted to identify prospective PHN studies published between 2000 and 2010. Definitions were established for screening purposes. Twenty-nine PHN studies in the United States and abroad met criteria for inclusion in this review. Satisfaction with teamwork and job autonomy generally was reported. However, inadequate PHN staffing was described as a concern, with problems magnified during prolonged response to public health emergencies. Insufficient control over PHN practice was reported as well. Perceptions regarding other work environment characteristics were mixed or were not measured in detail. More in-depth research is recommended with the ultimate goal of improving PHN recruitment and retention.

Job satisfaction among public health nurses: a national survey

BACKGROUND

Despite increasing interest in nurses' job satisfaction relatively few studies have investigated job satisfaction among public health nurses.

AIM

To establish current level of job satisfaction among public health nurses and identify the main contributing variables/factors to job satisfaction among this population.

DESIGN

Quantitative descriptive design. A simple random sample of 1000 public health nurses was conducted yielding a response rate of 35.1% (n = 351). Data was collected using the Index of Work Satisfaction Questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were deployed.

RESULTS

Low levels of job satisfaction among public health nurses emerged. Professional status, interaction and autonomy contributed most to job satisfaction while pay and task-related activities contributed least. Age and tenure were the only biographic factors that correlated significantly with job satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

Public health nurse managers/leaders need to find creative ways of improving the factors that contribute to job satisfaction and address robustly those factors that result in low job satisfaction.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The critical issue for public health nurse managers is to determine how job satisfaction can be improved. Greater collaboration and consultation between managers and public health nurses can be regarded as a useful way to begin this process, especially if contemporary nursing is to embrace a responsive approach within the profession.

Role and working conditions of nurses in public health in Mexico and Peru: a binational qualitative study

AIM

This exploratory study conducted in Mexico and Peru investigated nurses' perceptions about their role in public health and working conditions.

BACKGROUND

Health reform efforts in many countries are redefining the role of health professionals in public health. Little is known about the role of nurses working in public health contexts in Latin America.

METHOD

Fourteen focus groups were conducted in Mexico and Peru with 82 nurses working in government-sponsored community health centres. Data were analysed using a content analysis technique.

FINDINGS

Themes identified were: nurses' job descriptions in public health settings; organisational factors influencing the nurses' work, and influence of academic and social image factors.

CONCLUSION

Management barriers and limited training influences the role and working conditions of public health nurses in Mexico and Peru.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The professional role of nurses working in public health in Latin America is not well defined because of the health-care system infrastructure and the lack of a clear public health nurse job description. Further research is needed to better understand the role of public health nurses and strengthen their training, particularly in relation to nursing management encompassing abilities for decision-making processes and public health program planning and evaluation.