Job satisfaction of nurses working in hospital units of northern Portugal

Abstract

Background: Nurses’ job satisfaction should be mea-sured because it plays a key role in the quality of health-care delivery. Objectives: To assess nurses’ level of job satisfaction. Methodology: A descriptive, analytical, exploratory, and quantitative study was conducted to assess nurses’ job satisfaction using the Escala de Avaliação da Satis-fação no Trabalho para Enfermeiros (Work Satisfaction Evaluation Scale for Nurses). Results: Sample (n = 124), mostly female (82.3%), with a mean age of 42 years. Nurses showed higher satisfaction levels in their relationship with the head nurse, the team, and the working context. Satisfaction is cor-related with age, academic degree, hospital unit, length of service, ward, and remuneration. Conclusion: Younger nurses, nurses with a lower academic degree, nurses with less than 10 years of service, and nurses with lower remuneration are more profes-sionally satisfied. Job satisfaction levels are different across hospitals and wards. Job satisfaction should be systematically assessed and its determinants should be identified.