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Job Satisfaction in the Home Health Care Context: Validating a Customized Instrument for Application

Morgan, Grant B.; Sherlock, John J. EdD; Ritchie, William J. PhD

¹doctoral candidate, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina

²associate professor, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina

³assistant professor, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia

For more information on the concepts in this article, please contact Mr. Morgan at [email protected]. This research was funded through a grant from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The grantee in the current research project was a nonprofit home health care agency; therefore, Institutional Review Board approval was not required. The researchers and affiliates complied with all CMS and DHHS survey administration standards.

Journal of Healthcare Management 55(1):p 11-24, January 2010.

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Abstract

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of this study is to present the development and validation process of a customized job satisfaction instrument within the home health care setting. During development, home health care agency directors selected items from preexisting scales to create a new 15-item instrument designed to measure job satisfaction, supervisory relationships, and job environment. The instrument's reliability and validity were examined using a two-step approach. First, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out with a sample of 398 aides, and three factors were identified. Second, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with an independent sample of 328 aides using the three-factor solution that was selected from the EFA. The reliability estimates for the job satisfaction, supervisory relationships, and job environment scales were 0.84, 0.93, and 0.74, respectively.

Results from this study yield a statistically sound instrument that offers potential advantages to those interested in better understanding job satisfaction and two related constructs of employees in health-related fields. Both research and practical implications are discussed. The final instrument will be a valuable tool for collecting information from home health care workers, a population that has historically been difficult to access and measure.