OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to investigate the level of job satisfaction among employees of the Athens Public Psychiatric Hospital

METHODS: A cross sectional study was performed from February to March 2023 at the Athens Public Psychiatric Hospital by providing the Job Satisfaction Survey (J.S.S.) questionnaire in Greek in accordance with other demographic questions to the personnel of the hospital (nurses and administrative staff). The response rate was 77% (154 out of 200).

RESULTS: From the 154 responders, 98 were women (63.64%). The majority was over 50 years old (40.26%), 63% had a higher education level, and 71.43% had a permanent employment relationship. Furthermore, 75.32% had more than 10 years of experience. Women were more satisfied with "Salary" (Mean: 7.42) compared to men (Mean: 6.39) (p-value: 0.007) and women expressed greater satisfaction with "Opportunities for promotion" (Mean: 10.42) than men (Mean: 8.48) (p-value: 0.008). Married people were more satisfied with "Relationships with supervisors" (Mean: 17.73) compared to unmarried or other individuals (Mean: 14.89) (p-value: 0.004). Employees over 50 years old showed higher satisfaction with "Additional benefits" (Mean: 9.84) than those in the age groups 40-49 (Mean: 8.27) and below 39 years (Mean: 8.76) (p-value: 0.05). Contracted employees presented greater satisfaction with "Extraordinary rewards" (Mean: 12.41) compared to permanent staff (Mean: 9.89) (p-value: 0.004). Women expressed higher satisfaction with the "Nature of work" (Mean: 16.16) compared to men (Mean: 14.64) (p-value: 0.043). The overall level of satisfaction (Mean: 107.29) indicates a high degree of dissatisfaction among the total sample.

CONCLUSIONS: The overall satisfaction level of employees is significantly low, bordering dissatisfaction. The Psychiatric Hospital, which deals with psychiatric and psychological cases, presents additional challenges for the employees due to the complex and demanding nature of illnesses.