Job satisfaction of hospital dietitians in the United States

Abstract

This thesis assessed the level of job satisfaction of hospital dietitians across the United States. Job satisfaction of professional employees is important to administrators not only because of the intrinsic desirability of having satisfied employees but also due to job satisfaction?s role in goal commitment. There have been significant relationships found between high job satisfaction and reduced absenteeism, decreased turnover, lower stress levels, and fewer work-related accidents. Historically, dietitians have expressed a high overall job satisfaction but dissatisfaction with their pay and opportunities for promotion in their positions. This study used the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) to determine the dietitians? level of facet satisfaction and the Job in General (JIG) scale to assess overall job satisfaction. Hospital dietitians were selected to comprise the sample since hospitals are by far the largest employer of dietitians in the United States. The JDI and JIG scale along with a demographic survey were mailed to the nationwide random sample to assess the level of job satisfaction and characteristics of the dietitians and employing hospitals. Job satisfaction of 234 (46.8% response) dietitians was studied in relation to age, level of education, years in present position, years in profession, employment status, title, number of employees supervised, type of employing hospital, average census, and salary. Facet satisfaction scores were also compared to dietitians studied in the Agriesti-Johnson and Broski (1982) research. Dietitians in the study were moderately satisfied with their jobs overall. They exhibited satisfaction with all job facets except for promotion, which was consistent with previous research. No significant differences were found between demographic characteristics and overall job satisfaction. Significant differences were found between job facet satisfaction and varying demographic groups of dietitians. The dietitians in the current study were significantly more satisfied with the work itself, supervision, coworkers, and pay and significantly more dissatisfied with opportunities for promotion than dietitians studied by Agriesti-Johnson and Broski. Promotion is shown to be a consistent source of dissatisfaction for dietitians since the first study of the satisfaction of dietitians 30 years ago. Managers, administrators, and the American Dietetic Association are encouraged to explore ways to increase promotion opportunities and ultimately increase dietitians? satisfaction with promotion.