CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION
The nursing workforce makes up the largest share of the overall health care workforce in the healthcare system and has the most direct interaction with patients. Therefore, nurses are a major factor in determining not only the overall quality of hospital care but also the outcome for patients. It is essential to provide registered nurses with an ideal professional practice environment in which they are assured of feeling fulfilled in their work in order to ensure the delivery of high-quality care. However, nurses frequently report feelings of discontent with their jobs, which puts a strain on the overall effectiveness and productivity of the nursing workforce (de Francisco, Meguid & Campbell, 2015). It is commonly believed that one of the most important factors in maintaining a healthy nursing workforce is employee contentment in their jobs (Wang, Tao, Ellenbecker, & Liu, 2012).
In the best possible scenario, the success of the organization in achieving its mission and vision depends critically on the well-being and contentment of its workforce. For example, nurses are the safety net because they are always present with their patients at the bedside, providing care while also identifying errors in medication administration and attending to patients’ actual needs. In any facility that provides medical care to patients, nurses serve as the clients’ initial point of contact. Job satisfaction in the nursing workforce is therefore essential to the provision of quality care (Abualrub, El-Jardali, Jamal, & Al- Rub, 2015; Alenius, Tishelman, Runesdotter, & Lindqvist, 2013; Saleh, Darawad, & Al-Hussami, 2015). [Citations] Alenius, Tishelman, Runesdotter, & Lindqvist, 2013; Saleh, Darawa Therefore, job satisfaction is the most important aspect of nurses’ lives, as it has a positive influence on their morale, productivity, the quality of care they provide, the safety of their patients, and the likelihood that they will remain in the profession (Ezeonwu, 2011; Aiken, et al., 2012).
A positive attitude toward one’s work environment and the tasks involved in one’s job can lead to greater job satisfaction. When an employee’s expectations are met with the requirements of their job, they report higher levels of job satisfaction. The phrase “job satisfaction” refers to “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences.” People’s opinions and feelings about their jobs are shaped by a complex web of interrelated factors, including the nature of the work and how it is performed. As a result, job satisfaction is a product of this dynamic. It is a function of the degree to which one values certain aspects of work, such as the degree of autonomy, company policy, management style, promotion, pay, recognition, relationship among co-workers, work itself, and working conditions. The degree to which one values these aspects of work is a function of how much one values certain aspects of work. According to Herzberg, these can be broken down into two broad categories: extrinsic factors (such as hygiene) and intrinsic factors (such as motivation) (Herzberg, 1968; Asegid, Belachew, & Yimam, 2014).
The decline in job satisfaction is one of the primary causes of the nursing workforce shortage that is occurring all over the world. Poor job satisfaction has caused nurses in the United States, Australia, and Canada to leave their organizations and/or the nursing profession, which has led to a shortage in the nursing workforce in those countries (Bellasch, 2015). According to Buchan, O’May, and Dussault (2013) and Trautman (2015), it is anticipated that there will be a shortage of approximately 500,000 registered nurses in the United States of America by the year 2025. In Canada, it is anticipated that this number will rise to 60,000 by the year 2022. In a similar vein, nurses in China, Slovakia, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as China, reported feeling dissatisfied with their jobs and frustrated with the nursing profession as a whole as a result of the excessive workload they were required to carry in addition to the inadequate recognition and compensation they received (Li, Bruyneel, Sermeus, Van den Heede, Aiken & Lesaffre, 2013). Therefore, Bellasch (2015) acknowledged that until adequate measures are taken to address the decline in job satisfaction among nurses and to stop the current high rate of nurse turnover, this shortage will continue to have a negative impact on the quality of healthcare systems all over the world.
The problem of a decline in job satisfaction among nurses and the associated consequences, such as poor patient outcomes, high turnover rates, and attrition, has become a problem that affects the entire world (Aiken et al., 2012). In point of fact, the problem is much worse in countries with low and middle incomes, such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria is a member of the Saharan African region (Dolamo & Olubiyi, 2013). This crisis in the health workforce is the primary reason why the majority of African countries were unable to fulfill their obligations under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Gupta, Bush, Dorsey, Moore, van der Hoof, & Farmer, 2015; De Francisco, Meguid, & Campbell, 2015). A high maternal and child mortality rate, poor response and ineffective management of infectious diseases, and outbreaks of epidemics are some of the reasons why sub-Saharan Africa has such a high mortality rate overall. Furthermore, problems with staff retention in the nursing workforce in sub-Saharan Africa are a contributing factor (Sun & Larson, 2015). On the other hand, it is anticipated that when nurses are happy in their jobs, they will continue working there and will be committed to the organization in which they are employed.
Due to factors such as Nigeria’s rapidly expanding population, ineffective policy implementation, and numerous security challenges, the country’s healthcare system is under-resourced and overstretched. This is made even worse by ineffective management of the human resources available for health care, such as improper distribution of the nursing workforce and inadequate welfare packages (Green, 2016; Agboghoroma & Gharoro, 2015). Therefore, the push and pull factors associated with global market forces, such as poor working conditions, unattractive benefits, and poor salary, are forcing well-trained and the most competent Nigerian nurses to emigrate to high income nations in search of better remuneration and working conditions that are more to their liking. These are contributing factors that are making the nursing labor shortage in Nigeria even more severe, particularly in terms of skill (Walani, 2015).
The nursing profession is more difficult in Nigeria, particularly in the country and in the north of the country, which is plagued by terrorism (Innocent, Uche, & Uche, 2014; Adegoke, Atiyaye, Abubakar, Auta & Aboda, 2015). When it comes to providing care for patients, nurses who work in such settings are frequently required to go above and beyond their professional jurisdiction. This is especially true in the event of epidemic outbreaks, such as those caused by Ebola, Lassa fever, or meningitis, as well as bomb blasts. As a result, nurses are subjected to an uncountable number of occupational stresses, which can range from having an excessive amount of work to dealing with patients who are terminally ill (Green, 2016; Mosadeghrad, 2013). The majority of studies that have been conducted on job satisfaction among nurses in other states of Nigeria have reported a decline in their job satisfaction as a result of poor salary, inadequate and sub-standard medical equipment and drugs, a lack of opportunity for advancement, and low self-esteem as a result of their employers undervaluing them (Nwafor, Immanel & Obi-Nwosu, 2015; Edoho, Bamidele, Neji & Frank, 2015; Adegoke et al., 2015).
In the absence of a reliable nursing labor force, the standard of care will continue to be jeopardized because dissatisfied nurses are less likely to devote the necessary time and effort to their jobs, thereby lowering overall productivity. It is therefore absolutely necessary for the state hospital in Sokenu Abeokuta, Ogun State, which is the only tertiary healthcare facility in the state of Kaduna, to have a nursing workforce that is completely content. In spite of this, anecdotal evidence suggests that nurses working at the State Hospital of Sokenu in Abeokuta, Ogun State, are becoming less satisfied with their jobs as a result of the frequent industrial strikes, high rates of emigration, and high rates of staff turnover.
At the time that this study was conducted, the researcher was not aware of any previous research that had been conducted on the topic of job satisfaction among nurses working in Sokenu Abeokuta in the state of Ogun. In addition, other studies on job satisfaction among Nigerian nurses were carried out in other regions of Nigeria. These regions have different cultural backgrounds and working conditions in comparison to sokenu Abeokuta, which is located in the state of Ogun. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence job satisfaction among nurses working in Sokenu Abeokuta in Ogun State. The findings will make a contribution to the existing body of knowledge on job satisfaction and will further enlighten the management at the state hospital at sokenu Abeokuta in Ogun state on how to enhance job satisfaction among nurses in order to generally promote quality healthcare delivery.
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