Job Satisfaction of Injured and Non-injured Hospital Employees as Measured by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ)

摘要

There is a current focus on job satisfaction and how it is related to occupational injury, specifically musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) since they are the most common injuries employees experience. Job satisfaction has been defined as an employee's satisfaction with the reinforcers found on the job (Weiss, Dawis, England, & Lofquist, 1967). Numerous reinforcers exist, but the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) has been developed to measure what has been found to be most involved in gauging employees' level of job satisfaction.This study attempted to compare the job satisfaction of hospital employees with a history of occupational MSD to their non-injured counterparts. Problems with recruitment, which resulted in a small study sample, forced the specific aims of this study to be modified. The findings showed only a few areas of statistically significant difference between groups of employees in levels of satisfaction for the 21 attributes measured by the MSQ. These findings, however, must be viewed with caution because of the small sample size and subsequent subgroups used for the analyses. Two of the subscales of the MSQ were found to be correlated with age. Isolation of the dissatisfied employees did not indicate that history of MSD was affecting the satisfaction scores of any of the attributes. Results of this study may be useful for rehabilitation counselors working with individuals who are working with individuals who have, or are interested in, careers in healthcare. The attributes seen as high and low satisfaction areas for the study sample may carry over to the general population of healthcare workers, giving some insight into what the client values as important in a job. Differences found between groups may have clinical significance, alerting a counselor to focus more on these areas with certain individuals. Information gained from this study can also assist with the formulation, or modification, of an employee return to work program to increase the chances for a successful return to work.