Abstract
Background: Job satisfaction, quality of work environment and morale of health practitioners is beginning to receive attention worldwide.
Objectives: This study examined the nature of the work environment of community health nurses, and
determined the level of job satisfaction among these nurses. It further explored the relationship between work environment and job satisfaction of these nurses, and perceived factors in the work environment that would increase their job satisfaction.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed. The study was conducted in public primary
health care facilities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. All the 216 nurses in these facilities were recruited but only 161
nurses responded to the instrument administered. A 58- item semi-structured questionnaire was used to survey nurses currently practicing in the above health setting. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: Findings from the study revealed the mean score of nurses’ perception of their work environment to be 64.65±19.77. Forty four percent (44%) of the nurses perceived their WE as of an average quality while 31% reported high quality WE. A majority (67.1%) of the nurses had low degree of job satisfaction while only few nurses (3.1%) reported high degree of satisfaction with job. A significant positive strong correlation was found between overall work environment and the general job satisfaction of the nurses(r = 0.55, p = < 0.01).
“Provisions of modern equipment for work” and “increment/prompt payment of salary” were the most
prominent factors in work environment that the nurses perceived as capable of increasing their job satisfaction (54.7% and 49.7% respectively). The least reported factor was “recommendation when one does a good job” (1.9%).
Conclusion: The study concluded that a healthy work environment for nurses in the primary health care settings is an important factor in improving work satisfaction, reducing turnover intention and improving nursing care outcomes.
Keywords: Job Satisfaction, work environment, turnover intention.