Working with cancer: motivation and job satisfaction

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the motivational factors to work with cancer patients, their repercussions in job satisfaction among Portuguese healthcare professionals and to understand the role of sociodemographic and occupational variables in motivation and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: An instrument based on Maslow’s and Herzberg’s theories and developed by Paleologou et al. (2006) was applied to four categories of healthcare professionals. This instrument comprises four work-related motivators (remuneration, achievements, coworkers and job attributes) and a single-item question about job satisfaction. In total, 400 healthcare professionals in a Portuguese oncology hospital participated in this study. Findings: Job satisfaction was positively and significantly associated with all motivational factors. Qualifications predicted all motivational factors, although the motivator “coworkers” was also influenced by age. Originality/value: Motivation and job satisfaction are related, and some studies investigate the relation between them. However, these constructs are not sufficiently studied among healthcare professionals in oncology hospitals. This study shows that motivational factors to work in a cancer hospital are critical for job satisfaction among healthcare professionals. Moreover, qualifications predicted all motivational factors in this context.