Staff Working Life and Older Personsʼ Satisfaction With Care: A Multilevel, Correlational Design

BACKGROUND: The importance of staff working life for staff well-being has been demonstrated in several studies; less research has focused on staff working life and older persons' satisfaction with care. PURPOSE: The study aim was to study relationships between 1) staff assessments of their structural conditions/empowerment in elderly care, psychological empowerment, and job satisfaction and (2) older persons' satisfaction with care. METHODS: A multilevel, cross-sectional, and correlational design was applied using questionnaire data on working life (1021 staff members) and unit-level data (40 elderly care units) on older persons' satisfaction with care. RESULTS: Statistically significant relationships were found between all 3 working life variables and older persons' satisfaction with care. Furthermore, the results revealed an indirect/mediating effect of job satisfaction between structural empowerment and satisfaction with care, but not for psychological empowerment. CONCLUSIONS: Staff structural empowerment, psychological empowerment, and job satisfaction are linked to older persons' satisfaction with care.