Job satisfaction and career plans among Irish radiography services managers and clinical specialist radiographers

Introduction: Radiography Service Managers (RSMs) and Clinical Specialist Radiographers (CSRs) play a pivotal role in the overall provision and seamless operation of the diagnostic imaging services provided to patients. The essential role played by these professionals makes it important to consider both job satisfaction and career plans amongst this cohort as both these variables are inextricably linked with the quality of care provided to patients and the occupational performance of staff. This study explored the job satisfaction and career plans of RSMs and CSRs. Method: A well-established, validated, questionnaire-based job satisfaction assessment tool, the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), was used to provide data relating to 36 statements across nine subscales related to job satisfaction in healthcare. Additionally, there were four open-ended questions which provided participants the opportunity to provide input related to career plans. An email link with access to the electronic survey was circulated to the National RSMs Group who further distributed the survey to other RSMs and all CSRs at their respective clinical sites. The collected data was analysed in Excel with the data analysis add-in to assess statistical significance. Results: The findings of this study demonstrated predominately 'ambivalent' opinions among CSRs and RSMs, with regard to job satisfaction. Areas of highest satisfaction amongst both cohorts included 'Nature of work', 'Co-workers', and 'Supervision', while areas of dissatisfaction included 'Pay', unclear systems of 'Contingent Rewards', and 'Operating Conditions'. Conclusion: This study highlighted areas where measures could be explored to increase job satisfaction and encourage the retention of both RSMs and CSRs in diagnostic imaging departments. Implications for practice: The enhancement of job satisfaction at management levels should translate through to other grades of radiographers, impacting the overall quality of patient care and professional well-being in the department. (c) 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The College of Radiographers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).