Evaluation of job satisfaction and quality of life of a university hospital employees during the pandemic period

Aim: Health workers perform vital functions such as protecting, improving, treating and rehabilitating the health of individuals who make up the society. Satisfying health workers professionally, keeping financial livelihoods at a sufficient level, and improving living and working conditions are important factors in fulfilling these duties. Support with material and moral incentives, which will increase the job satisfaction and quality of life of health personnel, will also encourage the new generations to make their professional choices in the field of health sector. For this reason, it is important to identify the factors that negatively affect job satisfaction and quality of life, and to take measures against them, and to increase the job satisfaction and quality of life of employees. In this study, it is aimed to determine the factors affecting the job satisfaction and quality of life of healthcare workers, especially during the pandemic period, and to guide managers. Methods: Our research was planned descriptively and analytically to evaluate the job satisfaction and quality of life of individuals working at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Hospital during the pandemic period and was carried out between October 2021 and January 2022. Approval of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine Clinical Research Ethics Committee was received for the study (21-KAEK-198). The universe of our research was determined as 1110 individuals (290 doctors, 585 assistant health personnel, 201 servants and 34 administrative services) working at Gaziosmanpaşa University Hospital during the period of our study. With the help of the G*Power version 3.1.9.7 program, a total of 140 people were found to be sufficient with a 90% power, 5% margin of error and an effect size of 0.60. However, in our study, it was planned to reach at least twice the number of people and 330 people in total has been reached. 13 people were excluded from the study due to missing data, and a total of 317 people were included in the study. The Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale was used to assess job satisfaction, and the WHOQOL-Bref-Tr Scale was used to assess quality of life. IBM SPSS Statistics 20 program was used in the calculations. In statistical analysis, mean ±standard deviation, number, percent, Significance Test of Difference Between Two Means, One-way Analysis of Variance were used. Statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05. Results: A total of 317 healthcare professionals participated in the study. The mean age of the individuals included in our study was 31.02±6.98 years, 53.6% were women, 50.5% were married, 52.7% were undergraduates, 44.5% were smoking and 10.7% were using alcohol. While 52.1% of the participants had a Covid-19 infection, 95.6% had the Covid-19 vaccine. Participants' internal job satisfaction score was 3.42±0.65, external job satisfaction score was 2.98±0.70, general job satisfaction score was 3.25±0.63; Quality of life sub-dimension scores were 59.14±17.93 for general health, 70.0±16.90 for physical health, 66.0±15.07 for psychological health, 65.64±14.64 for social relations, and 58.36±10.7 for environmental domain. Job satisfaction and quality of life levels of those who are married compared to singles, those with children compared to those who have no children, those with a master's/doctorate degree compared to those with a lower education level, those who work in their profession for 20 years or more compared to those who work less, those who choose their profession voluntarily compared to those who choose their profession unwillingly was found significantly higher (p<0.05). In the correlation analysis between the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale and the WHOQOL-Bref Scale, both scales were found to be positively and significantly correlated (p<0.001). Conclusion: The job satisfaction and quality of life levels of the hospital staff were found to be moderate. Health is not a field to be regulated by considering economic concerns, but continuous and effective policies should be followed to increase the job satisfaction levels and quality of life of the employees in order to get sufficient efficiency from the healthcare professionals, to receive adequate response especially during epidemic periods such as pandemics and unexpected periods such as natural disasters, and to prevent employees from leaving their jobs. Key words: Covid-19, Job Satisfaction, Quality of Life, Healthcare Professionals