The Phenomenon of Oncology Nurses’ Tendency to Change Duties in Greek Public Hospitals: A Study of Its Causes and Suggestions

摘要

Background: The concept of job satisfaction is of great importance regarding its impact on employees’ productivity and efficiency. Especially for oncology nurses has become apparent over the past decades that job satisfaction is a determinant factor not only for the quality of services they provide but also of their tendency to change duties and resign from workplace. While this phenomenon is vastly described by the literature, no survey that investigates nursing personnel’s tendency to resign from workplace has been conducted in Greece. Objectives: To investigate oncology nurses’ job satisfaction while examining the causes of their dissatisfaction in regard to their tendency to change duties, either by departing from the oncology field or by resigning. Material and Method: Using a structured questionnaire, a survey was conducted in four hospitals in the region of Attica that fall within the Greek National Health System, ESY. The research sample comprised 278 oncology nurses, men and women, with varied work experience. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software, applying descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and Principal Component Analysis. Results: Our findings concerning participants’ job satisfaction were mainly positive. Most of the oncology nurses partaking in the study expressed their willingness to remain in their current workplace, as their placements enable them to diffuse in their tasks the knowledge and experience previously acquired. Conclusion: As oncology nurses’ job satisfaction influences their overall performance and dedication in their profession, parameters as working conditions, equal distribution of the workload, independent decision making and seniors’ management recognition of their work, need to be considered as primarily fields of improvement. With this being the first study in Greece that investigates oncology nurses’ job satisfaction in relation to their tendency to change duties, further research is required for the containment of said phenomenon.