Job stressors and job satisfaction in a major metropolitan public EMS service.

INTRODUCTION: Behavioral and social science research suggests that job satisfaction and job performance are positively correlated. It is important that EMS managers identify predictors of job satisfaction in order to maximize job performance among prehospital personnel.

PURPOSE: Identify job stressors that predict the level of job satisfaction among prehospital personnel.

METHODS: The study was conducted within a large, urban Emergency Medical Services (EMS) service performing approximately 60,000 Advanced Life Support (ALS) responses annually. Using focus groups and informal interviews, potential predictors of global job satisfaction were identified. These factors included: interactions with hospital nurses and physicians; on-line communications; dispatching; training provided by the ambulance service; relationship with supervisors and; standing orders as presently employed by the ambulance service. These factors were incorporated into a 21 item questionnaire including one item measuring global job satisfaction, 14 items measuring potential predictors of satisfaction, and seven questions exploring demographic information such as age, gender, race, years of experience, and years with the company. The survey was administered to all paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) Results of the survey were analyzed using univariate and multivariate techniques to identify predictors of global job satisfaction.

RESULTS: Ninety paramedics and EMT participated in the study, a response rate of 57.3%. Job satisfaction was cited as extremely satisfying by 11%, very satisfying by 29%, satisfying by 45%, and not satisfying by 15% of respondents. On univariate analysis, only the quality of training, quality of physician interaction, and career choice were associated with global job satisfaction. On multivariate analysis, only career choice (p = 0.005) and quality of physician interaction (p = 0.05) were predictive of global job satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS: Quality of career choice and interactions with physicians are predictive of global job satisfaction within this urban emergency medical service (EMS). Future studies should examine specific characteristics of the physician-paramedic interface that influence job satisfaction and attempt to generalize these results to other settings.