Effects of Job Satisfaction on Taiwanese School Nurses in Both Senior and Primary Schools

Monday, 7 July 2008
Pei-Lin Hsieh, PhD , Nursing Faculty, Chang Gung Institute of Technology, Tao-Yuan County, Taiwan
Li-Chun Chang, RN, PhD , Department of Nursing, Chang-Gung Institute of Technology, Taoyuan County, Taiwan

Learning Objective 1: realize school nurses’ job satisfaction in Taiwan.

Learning Objective 2: realize school nurses’ associated work related factors such as employment responsibilities.

Job satisfaction has been widely investigated among registered nurses working in clinical settings in Taiwan. However, there is a paucity of research focused on school nurses' job satisfaction. Furthermore, the setting for the majority of these studies is a primary school rather than a high school. The current study examined school nurses' associated work related factors such as employment responsibilities, to determine if they affected the level of school nurses' job satisfaction in both senior and primary schools. Survey design was chosen using a questionnaire: The School Nurses Job Satisfaction Questionnaire. This questionnaire, developed by the researcher based on the researcher's previous study and a comprehensive literature review, was subjected to expert scrutiny. Random sampling was used to recruit 318 school nurses. Data were analyzed using descriptive, correlation, independent T-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), univariate, and frequencies techniques. The results indicated that the majority of the participants were satisfied with their employment responsibilities. The school nurses employed in small schools were more satisfied than nurses working in larger schools. The senior school nurses with higher qualifications had an increased level of job satisfaction compared with lesser qualified junior nurses. However, at both primary and senior schools, unmarried school nurses with fewer qualifications had an increased level of job satisfaction compared with married nurses with higher qualifications. The results of this study may be used as a basis for the Taiwanese Educational Council to promote working conditions for school nurses.