Determinants of Physicians and Nurses’ Professional Satisfaction at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya

Wilson Kipkirui Aruasa ,Linus Kipkorir Chirchir ,Stanley Kulei Chebon

doi:10.7176/jhmn/64-02

Abstract

The research addressed the factors affecting physicians’ and nurses’ professional satisfaction and implications for patient care at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya. A descriptive quantitative research design was used. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire that was administered to a stratified sample of 82 Physicians and 220 Nurses. All the completed questionnaires were entered into IBM SPSS 21.0 statistical software and data analysed for descriptive statistics. The results were presented in tables and figures. The study was powered to 95% confidence interval. From the study findings it was deduced that most of the respondents were satisfied with the assessed factors that influenced their professional satisfaction. The factors can be classified as either intrinsic or extrinsic. These intrinsic factors included achievement, recognition, autonomy and advancement. Extrinsic factors include interpersonal relations, working conditions/workload and compensation. The study concluded that the factors that influence physicians and nurses’ professional satisfaction include workload, compensation (salary/pay), working conditions, supervisors’ role, physicians-nurses’ relationship, career advancement and autonomy. Overall, the results clearly indicate the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in influencing physicians’ and nurses’ professional satisfaction. The study recommends focused efforts towards improving both intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence physicians’ and nurses’ professional satisfaction in order to translate to improved patient care. Healthcare systems need to mainstream organizational structure in order to facilitate patient care through consultative processes with physicians and nurses. The need for interdepartmental support and strengthened working relationships between physicians and nurses in healthcare environment is an important strategy to influencing satisfaction. Keywords: Determinants, Factors, Physicians, Nurses, Professional Satisfaction, Moi Teaching, Referral Hospital, MTRH, Kenya DOI : 10.7176/JHMN/64-02 Publication date :July 31 st 2019

Highlights

Motivated human resources are the most important assets of any health system (Homedes & Ugalde, 2005)
The sampling frame that was used in the study was the full list of physicians and nurses employed at MTRH
The factors that were assessed in the study were: Workload, compensation, interpersonal relations, autonomy and career advancement

Summary

Introduction

Motivated human resources are the most important assets of any health system (Homedes & Ugalde, 2005). This resource, especially the nursing department, works directly with the health consumers (patients). If the nurses are properly motivated, their work productivity increases resulting in good healthcare service outcomes. It has been increasingly recognized that improving the motivation of health personnel should be at the core of any sustainable solution to patient outcomes. Some of the actions proposed to rectify this situation included improving motivation, retention, productivity and performance of health workers and mobilizing trained staff who are unemployed or working in other sectors to return to the health sector. Healthcare is a labour-intensive sector, making human resources one of the most important inputs in the delivery of health care services

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion