A survey of job satisfaction among nurses and its correlate in a tertiary healthcare in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: This study was undertaken to assess the levels of job satisfaction and its correlate among nurses in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH); and to compare the levels of job satisfaction between senior and junior nurses. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of senior and junior nurses working at various specialties in AKTH, Kano. Ethical clearance and informed consent were obtained. Questionnaires were used to obtain a response from 350 nurses in a five-point Likert scale. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 statistical software. Descriptive statistics was used. Significant association of job satisfaction and sociodemographic variables was tested using the Chi-square test and Pearson' Coefficient of Correlation. Statistical significance was considered when P Result: The mean ages were 30.26 ± 4.76 and 40.19 ± 5.61 years for junior and senior nurses, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant, ( P = 0.001). The mean number of dependents was higher (5 ± 2) for senior nurses compared to junior nurses (4 ± 2), but the difference was not statistically significant. Both age and number of dependents showed very weak positive correlations with job satisfaction. The average duration of service for senior nurses (9.45 ± 4.25 years) was higher than that of junior nurses (3.44 ± 2.00 years), and the difference was statistically significant ( P = 0.0001). Most junior nurses had their promotion 4-7 years prior to the study (58.75%) compared to the senior nurses whose promotion was within the past 3 years (64.7%). Nurses in the two groups worked 7-9 h/day (84.3% and 85.3%). Duration of last promotion showed very weak positive correlation with job satisfaction. Conclusion: There are generally high levels of job satisfaction among nurses in AKTH compared with those report from other studies and this showed a very weak positive correlation with promotion. Job satisfaction may improve if nurses are promoted timely.