ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To find the overall and specific levels of job satisfaction of nursing staff in an Area's Health Institutions. DESIGN: Descriptive study of a crossover type of a population base. SETTING: Primary (PC) and Specialist (SC) Care within INSALUD in Madrid's Area 10. PARTICIPANTS: Nursing staff with at least six months in their post. All 147 working in PC were included and a random sample of 130 from SC. INSTRUMENT: The Font-Roja questionnaire, which measures overall job satisfaction and a series of specifics, was used. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 68.2% replied. By means of a factorial analysis of the main components, 9 dimensions explaining 59.2% of the variance were obtained. There was average general job satisfaction (3.05 +/- 0.35). The most valued dimension was that which referred to work content (4.01 +/- 0.59) and the least valued was tension associated with the job (2.47 +/- 0.70). CONCLUSIONS: Nursing staff at both levels of Health Care are less satisfied in the areas of "tension associated with work," "promotion prospects" and "over-work". The greatest satisfaction was found in "work content" and "relationships with colleagues". PC nursing staff showed greater satisfaction in "communication with superiors", "satisfaction with the post", "tension associated with the job" and "professional autonomy." Temporary scored higher than permanent staff in "satisfaction with the post" and "tension associated with the post." In general the afternoon shift provides most satisfaction.
