Investigating the Relationship between Clinical Competence and Nurses' Job Satisfaction

Background & aim: Job satisfaction of nurses, as the main body of patient service providers, is of great importance which increases a person's commitment to the job, creativity, efficiency and improves the quality of services. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between clinical competence and job satisfaction in nurses of Ardabil university of medical sciences. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive correlational study was performed on 353 nurses of teaching hospitals of Ardabil university of medical sciences. The samples were selected through multi-stage random sampling. Data collection tools included demographic information questionnaire, Minnesota job satisfaction questionnaire and banner clinical competency. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22 software and T-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Data were analyzed using SPSS-22 software and T-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Results: The results of Pearson correlation test showed that there was no significant correlation between clinical competence and job satisfaction (p=0.07). There was a statistically significant relationship between education and guidance and diagnostic practices with job satisfaction among the areas of clinical competence (p=0.001). The results of multiple regression showed that only the domain of diagnostic practices had a significant effect in predicting job satisfaction (p=0.001) and other domains of clinical competence had no significant effect. Conclusion: The clinical competence and job satisfaction of most nurses were assessed in moderate level. It is necessary for managers to pay more attention to empower and acquire the necessary qualifications of nurses in order to improve the job satisfaction of nurses, which has a direct impact on the quality of nursing care.