JOB-SATISFACTION IN PUBLIC-HEALTH - A COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS OF 5 OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS

Five occupational groups of public health workers (health administrato rs, nursing personnel, environmental health personnel, other public he alth workers, and public health support staff) from nine county health departments in the midwestern United States were statistically compar ed to uncover similarities and differences in job satisfaction/dissati sfaction that might be important in planning effective intervention pr ogrammes designed to improve satisfaction on the job. Each participant in the study (n = 602) completed three validated job satisfaction/dis satisfaction instruments: the Job Descriptive Index, the Job in Genera l scale and the Occupational Needs Questionnaire. Several discernable trends in job satisfaction/dissatisfaction were identified among the g roups. In general, health administrators appeared to be more satisfied with their jobs compared to the other groups, especially with regard to the actual work performed. Public health support staff, on the othe r hand, seemed to be the least satisfied group, particularly with resp ect to pay. The greatest source of dissatisfaction among all the group s appeared to be the lack of promotional opportunities.