Dental Hygienists in Israel: Employment Evaluation, Job Satisfaction, and Training Implications
- 1 October 2012
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Dental Education
- Vol. 76 (10), 1371-1376
- https://doi.org/10.1002/j.0022-0337.2012.76.10.tb05393.x
Abstract
Fundamental changes have occurred in dental services for children in Israel that are likely to affect workforce needs for dental hygienists. The aim of this study was to describe the employment situation and job satisfaction of a sample of dental hygienists in Israel, to estimate associated variables, and to discuss corresponding possible implications for training programs after these changes. An e-mailed questionnaire sent to all dental hygienists in the Israeli Dental Hygienists Association list included questions about respondents' demographic background, years of experience, working hours, desire to work in an alternative occupation, and sense that they were valued within the dental community. The response rate was 20.7 percent. The responses showed that dental hygienists worked, on average, in 2.11 different working venues, 23.64 hours/week, and 12.34 hours in the private sector. Almost 63 percent of the respondents were willing to add working hours as a dental hygienist, preferably in the private sector. Also, 38.2 percent of the respondents worked in an extra non-dental hygienist job (mean=7.05 hours/week). These dental hygienists reported a high level of job satisfaction. After regression analysis, a high number of working venues, years of experience, and hypothetically choosing again to be a dental hygienist were found to be significant indicators of job satisfaction (R(2)=0.491). It is important that dental hygienists be satisfied and willing to expand their activities. Legislative changes may require reorientation and refocusing of dental hygiene education programs.Keywords
This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit:
- Working practices and job satisfaction of Victorian dental hygienistsAustralian Dental Journal, 2008
- A comparison of career satisfaction amongst dental healthcare professionals across three health care systems: Comparison of data from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Trinidad & TobagoBMC Health Services Research, 2006
- The Working Practices and Job Satisfaction of Dental Hygienists in New ZealandJournal of Public Health Dentistry, 2006
- Comparative Response to a Survey Executed by Post, E-mail, & Web FormJournal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2006
- International profiles of dental hygiene 1987 to 1998: a 19-nation comparative studyInternational Dental Journal, 2001
- A national survey of dental hygienists: working patterns and job satisfactionBritish Dental Journal, 2001
- Response rates to mail surveys published in medical journalsJournal of Clinical Epidemiology, 1997
- The political economy of health system reform in IsraelHealth Economics, 1995