In the wake of the advancement in medicine and food science, once incurable diseases found a cure and a health-conscious diet prolonged the life expectancy of human. However a chronic illness of the old aged occurring along the aging process also inc...
In the wake of the advancement in medicine and food science, once incurable diseases found a cure and a health-conscious diet prolonged the life expectancy of human. However a chronic illness of the old aged occurring along the aging process also increased the population of the dependent old aged who need a long-term care.
On the other hand, a radically changing family structure brought a phenomenon of nuclear family, increase of the economic participation of women, a change in consciousness regarding family support, so that a traditional function of family as a source of the protection continues to decrease and the need increases for a social solution for the demand of the long-term care. Accordingly a 'Long-term Care Insurance System' in which state and society take responsibility for the aged was introduced and implemented as of the first of July, 2008. Thus the aim of this study was to examine differences and effects of the professional consciousness and self-efficacy on job satisfaction of the care givers working in a long-term care facility as a central manpower of the 'Long-term Care Insurance System.' Subsequently this study was also to help a relatively new occupation, care giver, to appropriately adapt itself in our society and make a social contribution.
To achieve such goal of the study, care givers working in a long-term care facility in the Eastern district of Jeonnam were subjected to the study. Total 350 questionnaires were distributed for a data collection and 282 questionnaires were eventually used for a final analysis. SPSS Program was used to process the data statistically, and frequency analysis, factor analysis, T-test, One-way ANOVA were applied. Multiple regression analysis was also used to verify effects.
The analysis result was as follows. First, as for the demographic sociological characteristics of the subjects, the care gives were mostly wonen in their 40s and 50s, and their marital status was mostly 'married.' As for the education level, 57% of the subjects had a high school diploma, and as for the income level, 45.4% of them had an income level ranging from 500,000 to 1,000,000 won per month. Amajority of the subjects, 70.6%, were hired based on a contract instead of a regular permanent employment.
Second, there was a difference in professional consciousness, self-efficacy, job satisfaction of the care givers depending on their demographic sociological characteristics. The higher their age, the higher their professional consciousness became. The care givers in their 40s to 60s had a higher job satisfaction than those in their 20s to 30s. The care givers who were married had a higher pride and a will to work long-term as sub-categories of the professional consciousness, and a higher self-control efficacy as a sub-category of the self-efficacy, than those of the care givers who were single. The regular employees had a high professional consciousness, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction, whereas the employees based on a contract tend to have a high turn-over rate.
Third regarding effects of the professional consciousness and self-efficacy of the care givers on their job satisfaction, the higher their occupational value and a will to work long-term, the higher their job satisfaction became. Regarding the self-efficacy of the care givers, it was found that self-control efficacy and degree of difficulty in task preference influenced the job satisfaction. That is, the higher one's self-control efficacy and degree of difficulty in task preference, the higher their job satisfaction became.
As a complex concept, the job satisfaction entails the degree of pleasure experienced by one's job as well as an evaluation of the job. Thus professional consciousness and self-efficacy become a prerequisite for enhancing job satisfaction of the care givers. Accordingly improvement plans are required for enhancing job satisfaction of the care givers by increasing professional consciousness and self-efficacy.