La soddisfazione lavorativa dei professionisti della salute

Health profession has been traditionally considered as one of the most at risk for psychological distress; in spite of a remarkable interest for the burn-out syndrome, only recently, scholars and polities devoted their attention to the factors apt to promote health professionals’ satisfaction and gratification. Aim of the present study was to investigate general and domain job satisfaction of physicians and nurses working in various Italian hospitals. The influence of four variables on job satisfaction was investigated: type of profession (physicians vs. nurses), job seniority, the desire of changing job, and the desire of changing work place. Participants’ suggestions in order to better their ward and to increase their personal satisfaction were collected through open questions. Results showed that physician were more satisfied with their job than nurses and that high seniority professionals were more satisfied than low seniority professionals. General satisfaction for the ward are mostly associated with the satisfaction for the leadership and the satisfaction for the relationships with colleagues and superiors; negative and modest correlations were found between job satisfaction and burn-out. A material improvement of the ward, more personnel and an improvement of the relationships among colleagues and superiors are reported more frequently as the most important factors in order to improve the ward functioning; a higher salary and more adequate turns and work loadings are reported more frequently as the most important factors in order to increase personal job satisfaction.