A Survey of Job Satisfaction and Related Factors among Clinical Research Nurses
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Lin, Hsiu-Yi
Abstract
A clinical research nurse (CRN) is the major operator of a clinical trial. The growing number of CRNs reflects increased clinical research activities. Job satisfaction among CRNs is thus an issue that should be considered. The current study had three aims: first, to understand the clinical research nurse’s job satisfaction; second, to explore to the association between basic attributes and job satisfaction in the clinical research nurse; and finally, to understand the factors that impact job satisfaction.
In this study, clinical research nurses were defined as those having carried out the job for more than 6 months by the time of enrollment. Nurses were enrolled by snowball sampling from 9 February to 21 April, 2011. Subjects were women, aged from 25 to 34 years, who were mostly university-educated. Questionnaires and informed consent were collected from190 candidates with a total of 160 completed and effective questionnaires (response rate 84.2%). Data were processed and analyzed using SPSS18.0 statistics software. Internal consistency of reliability was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha (total class, 0.952; 7 subclasses, from 0.771 to 0.955). The study power was calculated as .88.
Total job satisfaction score ranged from 36 to 180 points (average: 117.21 points). Job satisfaction was divided into seven subclasses: “achievement” with 7 items (mean 3.78 points for each item), “compensation satisfaction” with 8 items (mean 2.85 points for each item), “satisfaction with boss” with 5 items (mean 3.45 points for each item), “support” with 5 items (mean 3.33 points for each item), “relationship with colleagues” with 4 items (mean 4.03 points for each item), “promotion opportunity” with 4 items (mean 2.52 points for each item) and “workload” with 3 items (mean 2.62 points for each item).
Results of regression analysis showed that a clinical trial period 2-8 years, a monthly salary of New Taiwan dollars 50,000-59,999, and current performance of clinical trials in the central counties or cities was positively associated with job satisfaction. Employment in hospitals and other institutions and the average working hours of over 61 hours per week was negatively associated with job satisfaction score (R2 = 0.357).
Based on these results we suggest that a base salary plus a bonus adjusted according to number of years employed and working hours may enhance job satisfaction in CRNs. Factors influencing job satisfaction, and possible directions for improvement in working environment, welfare and promotion of CRNs are discussed based on current study results. We suggest improvement of such factors to increase the quality of nursing care and servicing of clinical trials.
Subjects
clinical trial
clinical research
clinical research nurse
research nurse
research coordinator
job satisfaction
work satisfaction
Type
thesis
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