Home Health Care Nurses’ Job Satisfaction: A System Indicator

Abstract

The home health care industry has recently undergone tremendous change. How providers of care are adapting to the changes in their environment and the effect this has on nurses’ job satisfaction has not been explored. Nurses’ job satisfaction provides an indicator of a change in the system’s ability to deliver quality patient care and to attract and retain staff. The purpose of this study is to describe the level of job satisfaction of home health care nurses in three regions of the country. Neal’s theory of becoming a home health nurse was used as a framework for understanding the findings. Nurses in this study were satisfied with aspects of their job related to professional autonomy, relationships with patients and peers, and a sense that their work is worthwhile and important. They are less satisfied with their relationship to administration and their ability to effect changes in the system.

A theoretical model of job retention for home health care nurses

“…The proposed model can be used to guide research that explores gaps in knowledge of intent to stay and retention among home health care nurses. The job satisfaction component of the theoretical model has already been used to guide development of the Home Health Care Nurses Job Satisfaction Scale (HHNJS) (Ellenbecker 2001). The theoretical model will be tested in a planned study of home health care nurses in New England, USA.…”

“…Although task autonomy in the role of the nurse is well understood, the sense of professional autonomy satisfying to the home health care nurse has only recently been identified. There is strong evidence that the independence and professional autonomy in the role of home health care nurses is the major aspect of job satisfaction (Lynch 1994, Mahoney 2000, Neal 2000, Ellenbecker 2001). Conversely, a lack of control or decrease in autonomy results in job dissatisfaction (Lynch 1994).…”

“…They concluded that sources of job satisfaction have changed, and that these changes may be due to pressures of coping with a rapidly and constantly changing health care environment. Some have argued that the uniqueness of the home care environment, a source of satisfaction to home health care nurses in the past, is being eroded by recent changes in the health care system (Ellenbecker 2001).…”

Home Healthcare Nurses' Job Satisfaction Scale: refinement and psychometric testing

“…Home healthcare nurses work in the relatively unstructured environment of the patient's home, away from colleagues and institutional supports. Only one scale, the Home Healthcare Nurses' Job Satisfaction Scale (HHNJS) has been designed specifically to measure the job satisfaction of home healthcare nurses (Ellenbecker 2001).…”

“…The four extrinsic characteristics of job satisfaction are: salary and benefits; job flexibility, including stability, convenience, and flexibility of schedule; stress and workload; and a perception of job possibilities elsewhere. The initial version of the HHNJS has been pilot tested and used in one study of 254 home healthcare nurses (Ellenbecker 2001), but to date has been subjected to minimal psychometric testing.…”