Evaluating the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction among female hospital nurses in Babol: An application of structural equation modeling

Background: This study was designed to investigate job satisfaction and its relation to perceived job stress among hospital nurses in Babol County, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 406 female nurses in 6 Babol hospitals. Respondents completed the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), the health and safety executive (HSE) indicator tool and a demographic questionnaire. Descriptive, analytical and structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses were carried out applying SPSS v. 22 and AMOS v. 22. Results: The Normed Fit Index (NFI), Non-normed Fit Index (NNFI), Incremental Fit Index (IFI) and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) were greater than 0.9. Also, goodness of fit index (GFI = 0.99) and adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) were greater than 0.8, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were 0.04, The model was found to be with an appropriate fit. The R-squared was 0.42 for job satisfaction, and all its dimensions were related to job stress. The dimensions of job stress explained 42% of changes in the variance of job satisfaction. There was a significant relationship between the dimensions of job stress such as demand (β = 0.173, CI = 0.095 - 0.365, P ≤ 0.001), control (β = 0.135, CI = 0.062 - 0.404, P = 0.008), relationships (β = -0.208, CI = -0.637– -0.209; P ≤ 0.001) and changes (β = 0.247, CI = 0.360 - 1.026, P ≤ 0.001) with job satisfaction. Conclusion: One of the important interventions to increase job satisfaction among nurses may be improvement in the workplace. Reducing the level of workload in order to improve job demand and minimizing role conflict through reducing conflicting demands are recommended.