Satisfaction of health care providers and quality assurance in Spanish hospitals

Abstract

One of the components of the quality of care is the ‘goodness’ of interpersonal relationships. This ‘goodness’ is a determinant of patient satisfaction, and it is in turn determined by the health care providers' satisfaction. It is therefore important to study both types of satisfaction and their interrelation. This paper focuses on health care providers and reports preliminary results on their job satisfaction. Pilot research on health-care providers was conducted on a representative sample of professionals from six general hospitals of Alicante province (Spain). Age and job appeared as the best predictors of job satisfaction; a permanent job was the best predictor of work overload and to be male was the best predictor of job-related tension. Females reported more job satisfaction and less job-related burnout than males; casual workers reported more satisfaction and less tension, less burnout level, less perceived responsibility and less work overload than permanent workers. Finally, physicians appeared more tense and reported more perceived responsibility than other groups.