Assessment of work environment factors influencing job satisfaction among mortuary staff in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Authors

  • Dosila A. Ogira Department of Health Management and Informatics, School of Public Health and Applied Human Sciences, Kenyatta University, Kenya
  • Peterson N. Warutere Department of Environmental and Occupation Health, School of Public Health and Applied Human Sciences, Kenyatta University, Kenya
  • Andre Yitambe Department of Health Management and Informatics, School of Public Health and Applied Human Sciences, Kenyatta University, Kenya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20233749

Keywords:

Work environment, Job satisfaction, Mortuary staff

Abstract

Background: Job satisfaction has been widely studied as a key factor that influences efficiency and effectiveness among healthcare workforces. However, one notable category that has been largely overlooked by researchers are the mortuary staff in part because of the stigma surrounded in the topic of death leading to them working in deplorable work environments. This study sought to address this gap by examining work environment factors influencing job satisfaction among mortuary staff in selected public and private mortuaries in Nairobi City County, Kenya.

Methods: Cross sectional study design, adopting qualitative and quantitative data collection was used in this study. A sample size of 193 respondents were selected from public and private mortuaries. Key Informant interviews were used to provide additional qualitative data.

Results: The study revealed that the overall satisfaction level was 44.7%. Chi-square analysis revealed significant relationship between; marital status (p=0.033) and solidarity among employees in the department (p=0.024). However, other factors such as provision of the right tools and equipment (p=0.061), appropriateness of daily working hours (p=0.265) and level of staffing (p=0.264), were not statistically significant in this study.

Conclusions: The study revealed a suboptimal job satisfaction level among mortuary staff in Nairobi County. This research calls for a better understanding of the dynamics of job satisfaction among mortuary staff by facility administrators as well as policy makers. Such information is integral to future policy development and decisions about appropriate strategies for intervention.

References

Tharikh SM, Ying CY, Saad ZM. Managing Job Attitudes : The Roles of Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment on Organizational Citizenship. Procedia Econ Financ. 2016;35:604-11.

Ba KW. A missing link ? The role of mortuary staff in hospital-based bereavement care services. Breave Care. 2013;3:127-30.

Laan S Van Der, Moerman LC. An Investigation of Death Care and the Funeral Industry in Australia An Investigation of Death Care and the Funeral Industry in Australia. Available at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/. Accessed on 20 February 2023.

Ganesh K. Foreseeing a Need for Counselling Practices for Mortuary Workers Foreseeing a Need for Counselling Practices for Mortuary Workers. IJIP. 2019.

Blaauw D, Ditlopo P, Maseko F, Chirwa M, Mwisongo A, Bidwell P, Thomas S, Normand C. Comparing the job satisfaction and intention to leave of different categories of health workers in Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa. Glob Health Action. 2013;6:192.

Douglas KE, Peterside SS. Assessment of workplace hazards in mortuaries in Port. PHMJ. 2016;10(3):32-9.

Papathanasiou IV, Kleisiaris CF, Tsaras K, Fradelos EC, Kourkouta L. General Satisfaction Among Healthcare Workers: Differences Between Employees in Medical and Mental Health Sector. Mater Sociomed. 2015;27(4):225-8.

Kazungu J, Nanyingi M, Katongole SP, Ddm AR. The State of Mortuary and Mortuary Services in Public Health Facilities of South Western Uganda. Int J Public Health Res. 2015;3(2):23-8.

Mwangi W. Skilled workers needed in morgues, but few takers-Daily Nation. Available at: https://mobile.nation.co.ke/business/Skilled-workers-needed-in-morgues/1950106-5354494-14s47rez/index.html. Accessed on 20 February 2023.

Simiyu S. Assesment of Occupational Hazards facing Mortuary Attendants in Nairobi County. Pan Afr Med J. 2014;23:12-8.

Cometto G, Boerma T, Campbell J, Dare L, Evans T. The Third Global Forum: Framing the health workforce agenda for universal health coverage. Lancet Glob Heal. 2013;1(6):e324-5.

Hryshchenko AA. International coordination of national economies’ development as a condition for preventing global financial and economic crises. Actual Probl Econ. 2010;(9):3-10.

Alnıaçık Ü, Alnıaçık E, Akçin K, Erat S. Relationships Between Career Motivation, Affective Commitment and Job Satisfaction. Proced Soc Behav Sci. 2012;58:355-62.

Kothari E. Research Methodology and Techniques. 2nd ed. India: New Age International Publishers. 2009.

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Available at: https://www.knbs.or.ke/?wpdmpro=2019-kenya-population-and-housing-census-volume-i-population-by-county-and-sub-county. Accessed on 20 February 2023.

Diah M. The Overtaking of Undertaking: Feminization and the Changing Gender Type of Funeral Directing. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/ download/pdf/20522639.pdf. Accessed on 20 February 2023.

Penepent DR. Gender role differences between funeral professionals and nurses. Available at: http://faculty.waldenu.edu/User/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2FFacultyHome%2Fdefault.aspx. Accessed on 20 February 2023.

Kenya Health Workforce Report : The Status of Healthcare Professionals in Kenya. Available at: https://taskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ KHWF_2017Report_Fullreport_042317-MR-comments.pdf. Accessed on 20 February 2023.

Wright DB, Eaton AA, Skagerberg E. Occupational segregation and psychological gender differences: How empathizing and systemizing help explain the distribution of men and women into (some) occupations. J Res Pers. 2015;54:30-9.

Concialdi C. The role of gender, age, occupational position and job performance on employees job satisfaction. Psychol Spec. 2014;12:32-8.

Carrillo-García C, Solano-Ruíz M del C, Martínez-Roche ME, Gómez-García CI. Job satisfaction among health care workers:the role of gender and age. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem. 2013;21(6):1314-20.

Bello S, Dt A, Mc A. Determinants of job satisfaction among physicians in public hospitals in Calabar, Nigeria. J Community Med Prim Heal Care. 2018;30(1):19-33.

Abuhashesh M, Al-Dmour R, Masa’deh R’. Factors that affect Employees Job Satisfaction and Performance to Increase Customers’ Satisfactions. J Hum Resour Manag Res. 2019;2019:23.

Leandra K. The Psychological Stressors and Coping Strategies of Corpse Handlers in Windhoek State Mortuaries. Master Diss. 2018;10:12-8.

Flynn BW, McCarroll JE, Biggs QM. Stress and resilience in military mortuary workers: care of the dead from battlefield to home. Death Stud. 2015;39(5):92-8.

Aklilu M, Warku W, Tadele W, Mulugeta Y, Usman H, Alemu A, et al. Assessment of Job Satisfaction Level and Its Associated Factors among Health Workers in Addis Ababa Health Centers: A Cross-Sectional Study. La Torre G, editor. Adv Public Heal. 2020;2020:108.

Downloads

Published

2023-11-30

How to Cite

Ogira, D. A., Warutere, P. N., & Yitambe, A. (2023). Assessment of work environment factors influencing job satisfaction among mortuary staff in Nairobi City County, Kenya. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 10(12), 4581–4586. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20233749

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles