Social Workers’ Perceptions of Job Satisfaction, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, and Organizational Leadership

Abstract

To address job satisfaction, and therefore employment retention, of hospice social workers, this study examined how relationships with other members of the interdisciplinary hospice team and perceptions of hospice leadership may be associated with job satisfaction of hospice social workers. The sample of 203 hospice social workers was recruited by e-mailing invitations to hospice social workers identified by hospice directors in three states, use of online social media sites accessed by hospice social workers, and snowball sampling. Study measures included professional experience, hospice characteristics, interdisciplinary collaboration, perception of servant leadership, and intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. Variables significant in the model for intrinsic satisfaction were perception of servant leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, and feeling valued by the hospice physician. Variables significant in the model for extrinsic satisfaction were perception of servant leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, feeling valued by the hospice physician, and number of social workers at the hospice. Interdisciplinary collaboration was more important for intrinsic job satisfaction and leadership style was more important for extrinsic job satisfaction. Profit status of the hospice, experience of the social worker, caseload size, and other variables were not significant in either model. These results support previous findings that leadership style of the hospice director and relationships with hospice colleagues are important for hospice social workers' job satisfaction. Such low-cost modifications to the hospice work environment, albeit not simple, may improve job satisfaction of hospice social workers.

How can social workers be meaningfully involved in palliative care? A scoping review on the prerequisites and how they can be realised in practice

“…As personal experiences with death, dying and bereavement influence professional care delivery, 46,114 social workers who have more of those experiences may be better equipped for palliative care practice. Furthermore, low job satisfaction has also been linked to a low understanding of the social work contribution among other professionals, 90 a general feeling of being disvalued in multidisciplinary practice 72,76 and the inability to put holistic social work values into practice due to various policy or organisational constraints. 49 How can this prerequisite be realised in practice?…”

“…46,56,112,115,118 On the other hand, various organisations of employment -such as home care or hospice care services -should stimulate job satisfaction and provide self-care and coping strategies for their social workers. 72,76,113,116 Moreover, as the likelihood on job satisfaction of social workers is higher in organisations where holistic social work values can be put into practice, it is important to align the organisational culture with those values. 49 Peer support through social work networks or organised mentorship.…”

Unravelling the Nexus between neuroscience and leadership research

“…But, there are specific gaps concerning the impact of behavioral genetics and decision making (Vroom, 2003) on various leadership styles. Though recent investigations (Marmo and Berkman, 2018; Paquin et al , 2018; Cardiff et al , 2018) have initiated critical inter-disciplinary interactions on leadership, still there are not enough studies to emphatically estimate the influence of leadership in the areas like neuromarketing, neuroimaging, organizational neuroscience, etc. Researchers could also focus on varied perspectives like reductionism, technology aid, experiences, etc., connecting divergent styles of leadership.…”

Making the Case for Evidence-Based Leadership and Innovation

“…Transformational leadership by surgeons also has been associated with better team performance in the operating room (Hu et al, 2016). Marmo and Berkman (2018), in a study of 203 hospice social workers, found that the perception of servant leadership was related to higher job satisfaction. Other variables linked to job satisfaction were interdisciplinary collaboration and feeling valued by the hospice physician.…”