he public health sector is experiencing recruitment and retention issues similar to those in other areas of the Canadian health system; the current workforce is aging and replacing and retaining such expertise is challenging. 1-3 Job dissatisfaction has been linked to retention issues, absenteeism, increased costs, and ultimately diminished client outcomes. 4-6 As nurses constitute the largest professional group of national public health human resources, 1,3,7 it would be beneficial to gain a better understanding of the determinants of their job satisfaction. Given the direction of health system reform that necessitates moving clients quickly from acute care settings into the community, 8 some have predicted that 60% of the Canadian nursing workforce will work in the community sector by 2020. 9 This projected increase in demand will have to be addressed in the context of an estimated shortage of 60,000 registered nurses by 2022; 10 this constitutes over 25% of the current Canadian nursing workforce. 11 No data currently exist identifying the future demands for public health nurses (PHNs), a specialized subsector of community nurses, however Canadian public health realities-including an aging population, higher prevalence of chronic conditions, and threats from infectious disease-suggest that there will be a need to increase or, at minimum, maintain the current PHN workforce. Due to the use of varying nomenclature and the diversity of roles and responsibilities across the country, enumeration of Canadian PHNs is difficult. 12 In their day-today work, PHNs identify and act on the sociopolitical conditions that contribute to Canadian population health inequities and are in a position to provide valuable insight to inform policy decisions. 12,13 Recent research has identified that effective Canadian health human resource planning requires service delivery strategies ensuring that PHNs are used to their full potential. 14 Positive work environments and job satisfaction would facilitate this objective. This secondary analysis of data selected from the 2005 National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses (NSWHN) was undertaken to determine the relationships between Canadian PHNs' job satisfaction and their autonomy, control-over-practice, and workload. Previous research has demonstrated the applicability of these
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