Factors Related to Job Satisfaction of Visiting Nurses in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

With an aging population, the demand for home-visit nursing has been increasing in most developed countries. Workforce stability in the home-visit nursing field is relevant to meet the demands for home-visit nursing care. Job satisfaction among home care nurses is an established predictor of their retention. Thus, it is important to know what are the factors related to job satisfaction among visiting nurses. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore factors related to visiting nurses’ job satisfaction in Japan, with the goal of improving satisfaction and retaining visiting nurses. The participants in the present study were 109 visiting nurses working in Ibaraki prefecture, Japan. The survey explored the relationship between job satisfaction among visiting nurses and possible related factors, with reference to the theoretical model of job retention for home health care nurses. Job satisfaction was measured through an ordinal scale ranging from 1 to 10 and was subsequently divided into three levels and set as the dependent variable in a proportional odds model. The result obtained from multiple ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that three factors are related to job satisfaction among visiting nurses: the number of full-time or equivalent nurses, which constitutes market characteristics (OR 2.42; 95% CI 1.09–5.55), working according to a highly desired working schedule, which constitutes the nurse characteristic (OR 5.55; 95% CI 1.99–16.44), and intention to leave the agency (OR 0.09; 95% CI 0.03–0.24). Large-scale agencies might be providing opportunities that improve job satisfaction among visiting nurses, such as intra- or extra-agency instruction courses. A possible solution in Japan is to ensure collaboration between smaller agencies in neighboring areas when providing these opportunities.

Keywords: Home care services, Job satisfaction, Nursing staff, Visiting nurse, Workforce