Organizational Climate Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction in Rural Health Care Workplaces in Upper-Middle-Income and High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Background: Fostering job satisfaction in rural health workplaces is crucial due to its relationship with multiple outcomes such as physical and mental health, job performance, burnout, turnover intention, and retention. As knowledge of the organizational climate components which influence rural job satisfaction is currently limited, this scoping review sought to identify organizational climate factors influencing job satisfaction among the rural health care workforce in upper-middle-income and high-income countries, organized by thematic categories for use in future workplace initiatives. Methods: Following JBI scoping review methodology and the PRISMA-ScR checklist, studies published between January 2013 and October 2023 were identified through searches of PubMed, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. Eligible studies reported research evaluating organizational climate factors as facilitators of and/or barriers to job satisfaction among health care workers in rural regions of upper-middle-income and high-income countries. Screening was conducted in Covidence and data were extracted using a customized Excel tool. Results: Of 305 identified articles that underwent screening, eighteen studies were included in the final review. Thirteen components of organizational climate across studies were identified as facilitators of and/or barriers to job satisfaction in rural health care workplaces, and categorized into four overarching domains: interpersonal relationships, individual responsibilities, organizational structure and planning, and reward and professional development. Conclusions: Relationships with leadership, peer relationships, autonomy and freedom of working method, availability and quality of resources, workload and the ability to remain busy, and wages and benefits emerged as the most consistently identified components impacting job satisfaction across studies. Rural health care organizations are encouraged to prioritize these components and implement participatory, communicative leadership structures, foster team cohesion and support, develop health care worker autonomy and limit inefficient oversight structures, address resource gaps, coordinate with workers to determine manageable workloads, and implement competitive wages and benefits. Additional research is needed to better elucidate the associations between job satisfaction and organizational climate components as well as to longitudinally evaluate interventions aiming to foster rural health workers’ job satisfaction.