Job satisfaction and its modeling among township health center employees: a quantitative study in poor rural China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Job satisfaction is important to staff management of township health centers (THCs), as it is associated with organizational performance, quality of care and employee retention. The purpose of this study was to measure job satisfaction level of THC employees in poor rural China and to identify relevant features in order to provide policy advice on human resource development of health service institutions in poor regions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A self-completion questionnaire was used to assess the job satisfaction and relevant features (response rate: 90.5%) among 172 employees (i.e., clinic doctors, medico-technical workers and public health workers) of 17 THCs in Anhui and Xinjiang provinces of China. The study covered a time period of two months in 2007.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean staff job satisfaction scored 83.3, which was in the category of "somewhat satisfied" on a scale ranging from 0 (extremely dissatisfied) to 100 (extremely satisfied) by employing Likert's transformation formula. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed eight domains involved in modeling of job satisfaction, among which, the caregivers were more satisfied with job significance (88.2), job competency (87.9) and teamwork (87.7), as compared with work reward (72.9) and working conditions (79.7). Mean job satisfaction in Xinjiang (89.7) was higher than that in Anhui (75.5).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Employees of THCs have moderate job satisfactions in poor areas, which need to be raised further by improving their working conditions and reward.</p

Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase A (MsrA) Deficient Mycoplasma genitalium Shows Decreased Interactions with Host Cells

Mycoplasma genitalium is an important sexually transmitted pathogen that affects both men and women. In genital-mucosal tissues, it initiates colonization of epithelial cells by attaching itself to host cells via several identified bacterial ligands and host cell surface receptors. We have previously shown that a mutant form of M. genitalium lacking methionine sulfoxide reductase A (MsrA), an antioxidant enzyme which converts oxidized methionine (Met(O)) into methionine (Met), shows decreased viability in infected animals. To gain more insights into the mechanisms by which MsrA controls M. genitalium virulence, we compared the wild-type M. genitalium strain (G37) with an msrA mutant (MS5) strain for their ability to interact with target cervical epithelial cell lines (HeLa and C33A) and THP-1 monocytic cells. Infection of epithelial cell lines with both strains revealed that MS5 was less cytotoxic to HeLa and C33A cell lines than the G37 strain. Also, the MS5 strain was more susceptible to phagocytosis by THP-1 cells than wild type strain (G37). Further, MS5 was less able to induce aggregation and differentiation in THP-1 cells than the wild type strain, as determined by carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) labeling of the cells, followed by counting of cells attached to the culture dish using image analysis. Finally, MS5 was observed to induce less proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α by THP-1 cells than wild type G37 strain. These results indicate that MsrA affects the virulence properties of M. genitalium by modulating its interaction with host cells

The effects of motivational factors on construction professionals productivity in Jordan

In the current economic conditions, improving worker productivity in construction sites is becoming increasingly vital to ensure the success of projects. Multiple factors impact the productivity of workers; however, motivation is considered to be the most important factor. Past studies indicated that low productivity is one of the main challenges facing the construction industry in Jordan. This study is an attempt to explore and rank the motivational factors affecting workers productivity in the Jordanian construction sites. To achieve this objective, a mixed research strategy was adopted involving a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire was distributed to key players within the industry and included 16 motivational factors which were derived from past research on motivation. Using the importance index technique, the top 10 factors were identified which included: (1) personal growth/career improvement; (2) pay on time; (3) decision making ability; (4) decent and respectful job; (5) rewards; (6) pay amount; (7) high responsibility job; (8) challenging tasks; (9) work appreciation; and (10) team cooperation. Semi-structured interviews were used to validate the results from the questionnaire and to further understand the importance of worker motivation. The study concluded that if organizations paid attention to these motivational factors, then worker productivity, staff retention, organizational standards and the probability of successful project delivery should all be improved

Enhancing team leaders' well-being states and challenge experiences during organizational change: A randomized, controlled study

When implementing teams, first-line leaders are often responsible for such implementation and their leadership role changes. This change may result in a perceived mismatch between the demands of the function and the leader’s resources. In a multi-method, controlled intervention study, we examined whether training leaders in team management changes their appraisals of the job and preserves their well-being. Data were collected with the Experience Sampling Method from 29 team leaders and survey data were collected from their followers (N = 233). Multi-level analyses revealed that training increased trained leaders’ challenge experiences and well-being states only where team members reported openness to change. In situations when both trained and non-trained leaders found themselves challenged above their average levels of challenge, they reported better well-being