Relationships between Dementia Care Duties and the Job Satisfaction of Nursing Staff in Unit-type Geriatric Health Service Facilities

This study examined the relationship between the frequency of high-quality dementia care duties and job satisfaction among nursing employees working in unit care geriatric health service facilities, including the perceived difficulty of performing care and responses to difficult work situations. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to a total of 608 subjects. 324 effective responses were received and analyzed. A causal model was proposed in which the frequency of high-quality dementia care is influenced by the perceived difficulty of practicing such care, and that these two factors, mediated by control and escapes responses, affect job performance. Structural equation modeling was employed for assessment of fit and to evaluate the relationships between variables. After confirming that the proposed model fitted the data, it was found that high-quality dementia care is indeed associated with the perceived difficulty of practicing such care and that these two factors, mediated by control responses, are associated with job satisfaction. The results indicate that sustaining and increasing job satisfaction requires adopting control-oriented responses and improving the quality of dementia care