Characteristics of respondents
Of the 220 family nurses surveyed, 219 (99.5%) were females and one (0.5%) was male. The average age was 50.13 years, with an SD of 8.36. The majority of nurses had secondary education (37.6%), with a qualification course (96.2%), without specialization (61%), with a nursing job seniority of 30–39 years (44.6%), and residing in a medium-sized city (43.7%).
Job satisfaction based on Satisfaction With Job Scale
In the study group, the mean score of job satisfaction was 22.23 (on a scale of 35) and the median (Me) score was 23; the lower quartile (Q1) score was 18, while the upper quartile (Q3) score was 26.
Job satisfaction and seniority in the nurse’s profession
A statistically significant difference of p = 0.039 was found between the level of job satisfaction and the seniority in the nurse’s profession. The Me of the job satisfaction level for the respondents of up to 19 year seniority was 21; for the those with seniority of 20–29 years, it was 22; for those with seniority of 30–39 years in the job, it was 24; and for the professionals with seniority above 40 years, it was 22. From the results, it can be noted that nurses with seniority of 30–39 years (score = 24) were the most satisfied, while nurses of seniority of up to 19 years (score = 21) were the least satisfied. p = 0.032 was considered statistically significant (Figure 1).
Job satisfaction and the workplace
The statistical significance between job satisfaction and the workplace of respondents was found at the level of p < 0.003. The Me of job satisfaction among nurses working in the country, small town, medium-sized city, and big city was 25, 24, 21, and 23. A statistically significant difference of p = 0.010 in job satisfaction was found between the nurses working in the country and those in a medium-sized city, as well as between the nurses working in a small town and those in a medium-sized city (p = 0.047). Professionals with the highest level of job satisfaction were working in the country, whereas the lowest level of job satisfaction was reported by those working in medium-sized cities (Figure 2).
Job satisfaction and a form of employment
A statistically significant difference was found between the level of job satisfaction and the form of nurses’ employment (p = 0.001). The level of job satisfaction was statistically significantly higher in nurses who are owners or co-owners of a primary health care unit than in those employed on a full-time contract (p = 0.001) and those employed on half-time contract or on other types of contract (p = 0.045).
The Me of job satisfaction for owners and co-owners of a primary health care unit was 25, while that for the nurses employed on a full-time contract (p = 0.001) and those employed on half-time contract or on other types of a contract was 22 (Figure 3).
Job satisfaction and family structure
A statistically significant difference of p = 0.007 was established between the level of job satisfaction and the structure of a family declared by the respondents. The Me of the job satisfaction level was 23 for singles, 17 for those single parent professionals, and 23 for the nurses living in a complete family. Thus, the level of job satisfaction was highest among nurses living in a complete family and who are single. The test of multiple comparisons using mean ranks from the Kruskal-Wallis test was performed for the groups that differed statistically significantly: “single” versus “single parent”(p = 0.022) as well as “single parent” versus “complete family” (p = 0.005) (Figure 4).
Job satisfaction level and the status and financial situation of the study participants
Most respondents declared their financial status as very good or good, and the Me of the job satisfaction level was 29, whereas professionals declaring their financial status as average and bad had a lower level of job satisfaction (Me = 21). p < 0.001 was considered statistically significant. A significantly higher level of job satisfaction was found among the professionals who declared that they could afford what they wanted to buy and possessed savings (Me = 29) when compared with those who could afford only to buy necessities (Me = 22; p < 0.001) (Table 2).
Level of job satisfaction with regard to participation in scientific conferences and subscription of nursing care journals
A total of 29.1% of respondents declared their participation in a scientific conference on nursing and health care during the last 2 years. These respondents had a significantly higher level of job satisfaction than those who did not participate in any scientific conferences on nursing and health care (p = 0.032). Their Me of the job satisfaction level was 24 and 22, respectively.
A total of 28.2% of respondents declared having subscribed to nursing care journals (p = 0.016). The respondents subscribing to nursing care-related journals had a higher level of job satisfaction than those not subscribing to any nursing care journals. Their Me was 24 and 22, respectively (Table 3).
Level of satisfaction and recommendation to work in a primary health care unit to other nurses
A statistically significant difference was established between the level of job satisfaction and the declaration of recommending work in a primary health care unit to other nurses (p < 0.001). The Me of the job satisfaction level for the answer “strongly yes” was 27, while that for the answer “rather yes” was 23, for the answer “difficult to say” was 22.5, and for the answer “rather not” was 15. None of the respondents chose the option “strongly no.” The highest job satisfaction level was reported by the nurses who strongly recommended to work in primary health care units to other nurses, while the lowest reported by those who rather did not recommend to work in primary health care units (Figure 5).
Causes of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction
The respondents’ answers to a closed-ended question on a 5-degree scale whether you are satisfied with work as a family nurse were as follows: very satisfied (23.9%), rather satisfied (60.6%), neither satisfied nor dissatisfied (11.3%), rather dissatisfied (3.3%), very dissatisfied (0.9%).
Additionally, the surveyed participants were asked two open-ended questions: “What makes you satisfied with a job of a family nurse?” and “What makes you dissatisfied with a job of a family nurse?”
The total number of answers received for open-ended questions referring to the causes of job satisfaction was 252, while that for the questions about the causes of dissatisfaction was 140 (Table 4).
Statements referring to job satisfaction were as follows: “frequent contact with little children, satisfaction with helping the elderly, and patient’s gratitude,” “greater independence, care of a patient and a family, and community awareness,” “contact with people, and independent organization of work,” “work conditions and atmosphere at work, possibility of additional trainings, and no monotony,” “continuity of a patient’s care by one person—a nurse, and “no night shifts.”
Statements referring to job dissatisfaction were as follows: “financial status and frequent patients’ demands,” “low salary and much bureaucracy,” “overload with administrative work,” “abundance of medical documentation and risk and stress connected with making decisions about threats to a patient’s health status,” “some patients claims about staff shortages in relation to the number of patients and their needs, and frequent changes in nursing job regulations and difficulties in their understanding.”