JOB-SATISFACTION OF RURAL PUBLIC AND HOME HEALTH NURSES

Based on Vroom's expectancy theory, this study was conducted to identi fy differences in job satisfaction between nurses working in public he alth settings, and staff nurses and administrators working in both set tings. Questionnaires containing an adaptation of a job satisfaction s cale were mailed to all 258 registered nurses practicing in public hea lth and home health settings (response rate 57%) in a rural midwestern state. Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction with various dimensions of their jobs, as well as how important each aspect was to them. Although both groups of nurses reported low satisfaction with s alary, public health nurses were significantly less satisfied with the ir salaries than were home health nurses (F = 32.96, P less-than-or-eq ual-to 0.001); home health nurses, however, were significantly less sa tisfied with benefits/rewards (F = 11.85, P less-than-or-equal-to 0.00 1), task requirements (F = 8.37, P less-than-or-equal-to 0.05), and pr ofessional status (F = 5.30, P less-than-or-equal-to 0.05). Although a dministrators did not differ significantly from staff nurses on job sa tisfaction, they did perceive organizational climate (F = 4.50, P less -than-or-equal-to 0.05) to be an important feature of satisfaction. Th ese differences may be partially explained by divergent salaries, role s, and responsibilities between public health and home health nurses.