Job Satisfaction and Work-Related Quality of Life Among School and Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study
Highlights
- School nurses in Greece reported significantly higher job satisfaction and work-related quality of life compared to clinical nurses, while clinical nurses demonstrated a stronger intention to leave their sector.
- Job satisfaction was strongly and positively associated with WRQoL, with working conditions, general well-being, and job–career satisfaction emerging as key predictive factors.
- Improvements in organizational and environmental work factors, especially salary, career development opportunities, and working conditions, are essential to strengthen nurse retention and professional well-being.
- Policy strategies targeting workplace quality rather than demographic characteristics may have a greater impact on sustaining the nursing workforce and ensuring healthcare system resilience.
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Study Population
2.3. Data Collection
2.4. Statistical Analysis
2.5. Ethics Approval
3. Results
3.1. Comparison of Job Satisfaction and Quality of Life
3.2. Correlations Between Job Satisfaction and Quality of Life
4. Discussion
Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
| WRQoL | Work-Related Quality of Life |
| JSS | Job Satisfaction Survey |
| JCS | Job and Career Satisfaction |
| GWB | General Well-Being |
| HWI | Home–Work Interface |
| CAW | Control at Work |
| WCS | Working Conditions Scale |
| SAW | Stress at Work |
| SPSS | Statistical Package for the Social Sciences |
| SD | Standard Deviation |
| M | Mean |
| CI | Confidence Interval |
| B | Unstandardized Regression Coefficient |
| SE | Standard Error |
| β | Standardized Regression Coefficient |
| ANOVA | Analysis of Variance |
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| Characteristics | Total (n = 165) | Clinical Nurses (n = 79) | School Nurses (n = 86) | p-Value a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Gender | 0.003 | |||
| Male | 37 (22.4) | 26 (32.9) | 11 (12.8) | |
| Female | 128 (77.6) | 53 (67.1) | 75 (87.2) | |
| Age Group (years) | 0.041 | |||
| 20–30 | 50 (30.3) | 30 (38.0) | 20 (23.3) | |
| 31–40 | 63 (38.2) | 18 (22.8) | 45 (52.3) | |
| 41–50 | 34 (20.6) | 17 (21.5) | 17 (19.8) | |
| >50 | 18 (10.9) | 14 (17.7) | 4 (4.7) | |
| Education Level | <0.001 | |||
| BSc (University degree) | 70 (42.4) | 45 (57.0) | 25 (29.1) | |
| MSc (Master’s degree) | 90 (54.5) | 32 (40.5) | 58 (67.4) | |
| PhD (Doctoral degree) | 5 (3.0) | 2 (2.5) | 3 (3.5) | |
| Work Experience | 0.082 | |||
| 0–5 years | 78 (47.3) | 32 (40.5) | 46 (53.5) | |
| 6–10 years | 38 (23.0) | 14 (17.7) | 24 (27.9) | |
| 11–15 years | 17 (10.3) | 9 (11.4) | 8 (9.3) | |
| >15 years | 32 (19.4) | 24 (30.4) | 8 (9.3) | |
| Employment Status | <0.001 | |||
| Permanent staff | 54 (32.7) | 40 (50.6) | 14 (16.3) | |
| Contract staff | 111 (67.3) | 39 (49.4) | 72 (83.7) | |
| Turnover Intention b | <0.001 | |||
| Yes | 50 (30.3) | 35 (44.3) | 15 (17.4) | |
| No | 72 (43.6) | 19 (24.1) | 53 (61.6) | |
| Maybe | 43 (26.1) | 25 (31.6) | 18 (20.9) |
| Scale/Subscale | Mean (M) | Standard Deviation (SD) | Median (Md) |
|---|---|---|---|
| WRQoL Scales | |||
| Overall WRQoL (Total Score) | 75.27 | 14.36 | 79.0 |
| Job and Career Satisfaction (JCS) | 20.45 | 4.58 | 21.0 |
| General Well-Being (GWB) | 20.00 | 4.94 | 20.0 |
| Home–Work Interface (HWI) | 9.48 | 2.05 | 10.0 |
| Control at Work (CAW) | 10.28 | 2.59 | 10.0 |
| Working Conditions (WCS) | 9.73 | 2.89 | 10.0 |
| Stress at Work (SAW) | 5.33 | 1.49 | 5.0 |
| JSS Scales | |||
| JSS Total Satisfaction | 125.10 | 22.29 | 124.0 |
| Pay | 10.68 | 4.33 | 10.0 |
| Promotion | 10.45 | 3.38 | 10.0 |
| Supervision | 17.79 | 4.40 | 18.0 |
| Fringe Benefits | 9.84 | 3.76 | 10.0 |
| Contingent Rewards | 12.95 | 4.01 | 13.0 |
| Operating Conditions | 13.28 | 3.61 | 13.0 |
| Coworkers | 17.21 | 3.88 | 18.0 |
| Nature of Work | 17.74 | 4.32 | 18.0 |
| Communication | 15.18 | 4.06 | 15.0 |
| Clinical Nurses Mean (SD) | School Nurses Mean (SD) | t | df | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall WRQoL (Total Score) | 73.26 (10.3) | 83.8 (16.9) | −4.779 | 163 | <0.001 |
| General Well-Being | 17.86 (3.4) | 21.96 (5.2) | −5.848 | 163 | <0.001 |
| Home–Work Interface | 9.26 (1.9) | 9.68 (2.1) | −1.316 | 163 | 0.190 |
| Job and Career Satisfaction | 19.46 (3.4) | 21.36 (5.2) | −2.701 | 163 | 0.008 |
| Control at Work | 9.75 (2.0) | 10.75 (2.9) | −2.511 | 163 | 0.013 |
| Working Conditions | 8.72 (2.2) | 10.65 (3.1) | −4.527 | 163 | <0.001 |
| Stress at Work | 5.01 (1.2) | 5.61 (1.5) | −2.653 | 163 | 0.009 |
| JSS Total Satisfaction | 117.88 (17.1) | 131.73 (24.4) | −4.181 | 163 | <0.001 |
| Pay | 9.45 (3.5) | 11.80 (4.6) | −3.607 | 163 | <0.001 |
| Promotion | 10.55 (3.3) | 10.34 (3.4) | 0.394 | 163 | 0.694 |
| Supervision | 17.16 (4.0) | 18.36 (4.6) | −1.757 | 163 | 0.081 |
| Fringe Benefits | 9.92 (3.2) | 9.75 (4.2) | 0.286 | 163 | 0.775 |
| Contingent Rewards | 11.82 (3.4) | 13.97 (4.2) | −3.570 | 163 | <0.001 |
| Operating Conditions | 12.12 (2.9) | 14.33 (3.8) | −4.118 | 163 | <0.001 |
| Coworkers | 15.72 (2.9) | 18.57 (4.1) | −5.043 | 163 | <0.001 |
| Nature of Work | 16.22 (3.8) | 19.12 (4.3) | −4.563 | 163 | <0.001 |
| Communication | 14.88 (3.3) | 15.45 (4.6) | −0.897 | 163 | 0.371 |
| Predictor | B | SE | β | T | p | 95% CI (Lower–Upper) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intercept | 60.596 | 8.810 | — | 6.878 | <0.001 | 43.194–77.998 |
| General well-being | 1.141 | 0.457 | 0.253 | 2.495 | 0.014 | 0.238–2.044 |
| Home–work interface | −1.315 | 0.667 | −0.121 | −1.973 | 0.050 | −2.632–0.001 |
| Job and career satisfaction | 1.375 | 0.551 | 0.283 | 2.497 | 0.014 | 0.287–2.462 |
| Control at work | −0.248 | 0.735 | −0.029 | −0.338 | 0.736 | −1.700–1.204 |
| Working conditions | 2.646 | 0.628 | 0.343 | 4.211 | <0.001 | 1.405–3.888 |
| Stress at work | 0.335 | 0.866 | 0.022 | 0.387 | 0.699 | −1.375–2.045 |
| School nurses a | 2.054 | 2.714 | — | 0.757 | 0.450 | −3.307–7.416 |
| Model fit: F = 29.305, p < 0.001, adjusted R2 = 0.547 | ||||||
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Lialias, S.; Bakalis, V.; Dimitriadou, I.; Saridi, M.; Toska, A.; Papathanasiou, I.V.; Sarafis, P.; Fradelos, E.C. Job Satisfaction and Work-Related Quality of Life Among School and Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare 2026, 14, 604. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14050604
Lialias S, Bakalis V, Dimitriadou I, Saridi M, Toska A, Papathanasiou IV, Sarafis P, Fradelos EC. Job Satisfaction and Work-Related Quality of Life Among School and Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare. 2026; 14(5):604. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14050604
Chicago/Turabian StyleLialias, Sokratis, Vissarion Bakalis, Ioanna Dimitriadou, Maria Saridi, Aikaterini Toska, Ioanna V. Papathanasiou, Pavlos Sarafis, and Evangelos C. Fradelos. 2026. "Job Satisfaction and Work-Related Quality of Life Among School and Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study" Healthcare 14, no. 5: 604. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14050604
APA StyleLialias, S., Bakalis, V., Dimitriadou, I., Saridi, M., Toska, A., Papathanasiou, I. V., Sarafis, P., & Fradelos, E. C. (2026). Job Satisfaction and Work-Related Quality of Life Among School and Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study. Healthcare, 14(5), 604. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14050604

