ENGLISH ABSTRACT
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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[Are We Really as Happy as We Think We are? A Critical Examination of Work Satisfaction in a University Pediatric Hospital].

Das Gesundheitswesen 2017 December 16
Goals Despite numerous reported deficits and an increasingly tense working environment in German hospitals, employees themselves often assess their job satisfaction as being high to very high. Hence, the board of directors does not have important arguments for sustainable improvement of working conditions. This discrepancy between working conditions and subjective satisfaction was the motivation for this work. Methods Data were acquired via an attitude survey at the University Hospital for Children and Adolescents Leipzig, with employees sub-divided into medical, nursing and administrative/technical staff. The subjective satisfaction was examined by means of classical global ratings almost exclusively used by companies vs. the much more modern cognitive-emotional concept of the 'Schweizer Modell' describing qualitative job satisfaction. In addition, working hours, work-related effects on mental health, willingness to quit the job and actual dropout rate were compared. Results A rather high level of job satisfaction was revealed while interpreting the classical global ratings. In contrast, the qualitative analysis showed that only 1 in 4 employees was really satisfied with his or her job, amongst doctors even only 1 in 10. Altogether there are four categories of satisfaction. Significant differences between occupational categories were seen when stratifying the data according to age profiles and the evaluation of the consequences of psychological job strain. These differences were not seen in willingness to quit the job. Discussion Reports of high job satisfaction in hospitals in numerous publications can be mostly explained by employees who are resignedly satisfied. This is the psychodynamic outcome of strain compensating. This is not measurable with the concept of classical global ratings. Furthermore, the constructively dissatisfied employees, who are an often-underestimated resource for companies, are neglected. The reduction of strain in these people then mostly results in job changes.

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