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The Gerontologist Advance Access published online on June 9, 2009
The Gerontologist, doi:10.1093/geront/gnp051
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Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America 2009.

Intrinsic Job Satisfaction, Overall Satisfaction, and Intention to Leave the Job Among Nursing Assistants in Nursing Homes

Frederic H. Decker, PhD1,2, Lauren D. Harris-Kojetin, PhD2 and Anita Bercovitz, PhD2

2 Long-Term Care Statistics Branch, Division of Health Care Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, Maryland

1 Address correspondence to Frederic H. Decker, PhD, Long-Term Care Statistics Branch, Division of Health Care Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782. E-mail: fdecker{at}cdc.gov


  Abstract

Purpose: We examined predictors of intrinsic job satisfaction, overall satisfaction, and intention to leave the job among nursing assistants (NAs). Design and Methods: The study focused on NAs who worked 30 or more hours per week in a nursing home. Data on 2,146 NAs meeting this criterion came from the 2004 National Nursing Assistant Survey, the first telephone interview survey of NAs nationwide. Regression equations were calculated in which intrinsic satisfaction, overall satisfaction, and intention to leave were dependent variables. NA attributes (e.g., job tenure and education) and extrinsic job factors (e.g., assessment of supervisor behavior, pay satisfaction, and benefits) were exogenous variables. Results: A positive assessment of the supervisor’s behavior had the strongest association with intrinsic satisfaction. Pay satisfaction had the second strongest association with intrinsic satisfaction. Predictors with the strongest associations with intention to leave were overall and intrinsic satisfaction. Assessment of the supervisor was not associated directly with intention to leave. Assessments of the supervisor and pay may affect overall satisfaction and intention to leave in part through their direct effects on intrinsic satisfaction. Some facility and NA attributes were related to intrinsic satisfaction but not to overall satisfaction, suggesting that intrinsic satisfaction may be an intervening variable in the impact of these attributes on overall satisfaction. Implications: Intrinsic satisfaction and extrinsic job factors amenable to change appear central to NAs’ overall satisfaction and intention to leave. A facility may be able to improve extrinsic job factors that improve NAs’ job-related affects, including intrinsic satisfaction.

Keywords: Nursing assistants, Intrinsic satisfaction, Extrinsic job factors, Nursing homes, Intention to leave

Received February 13, 2008; Accepted August 6, 2008

Decision Editor: William J. McAuley, PhD


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