Working Conditions and Job Satisfaction among Nursing Professionals

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate satisfaction with the type of work contract and labor relationship in a group of nursing professionals at a third tier hospital in Tunja, Boyacá (Colombia) between June and December 2005.

Method: This is a transverse study with 39 professionals from the hospital. The NTP 394 (Overall Job Satisfaction, authorized by Perez- Bilbao) was used and the data were analyzed in Epi-info 2002. The search for differences among measurements was done via Kruskall Wallis, with IC 95% p<0.05.

Results: The measurement of general job satisfaction was 77.10 (DE 12.36) with a range of 15-105; intrinsic satisfaction, 35.46 (DE 6.67) with a range of 7-49; and extrinsic satisfaction, 41.69 (DE 6.50) with a range of 8-56. The differences found with this study were related to extrinsic satisfaction and the type of labor relationship (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Wage compensation has a bearing on lack of satisfaction. Job stability improves the sensation of intrinsic satisfaction. Most studies show an increase in job satisfaction with age and years of professional experience, which is contrary to what this study revealed.