Determinants of Job Satisfaction among Nurse/Midwife Educators in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

Background: Job satisfaction represent an important element of Nurse Educators' survival which has implications for productivity/performance, retention/turnover, commitment to the organization, the nursing profession itself and preparing nursing students who are capable of providing high quality patient care. The purpose of the study was to assess overall level of job satisfaction and satisfaction with nine facets of job satisfaction among Nurse/Midwife Educators in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.

Methods: A descriptive cross sectional survey was used for the study. A total population study of Nurse /Midwife Educators in Calabar was undertaken. A self administered structured questionnaire adapted from the standardized “Employee Opinion Survey” with a reliability of  0.60 to 0.90 coefficient was used for data collection. Data were computer analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0 for Windows. Chi-square analysis was used to verify association between variables.

Results:  Preliminary results show that mean age of the respondents was 45.8±8.6 while the mean years of working experience was 22.1±9.6.  The respondents were made up 64.3% female and 35.7% male. The mean overall job satisfaction score was 3.6. The results also revealed that majority of the respondents (71.4%) were moderately satisfied with their work while 28.6% were dissatisfied. Most of the respondents (92.9%) were satisfied with the job itself with a mean score of 4.3 ±0.95, while they were least satisfied with the pay and benefits of the work with a mean of 2.36±1.5. Support for quality, working relationship and quality of management were significantly related to the overall job satisfaction.

Conclusion: The study has shown that Nurse/Midwife Educators were not fully satisfied with many facets of their work. In order to curb the adverse effect of dissatisfaction, it is recommended that all facets of job satisfaction be addressed by employers of Nurse Educators and the Professional Nursing Association.