Work challenges negatively affecting the job satisfaction of early career community mental health professionals working in rural Australia: findings from a qualitative study
| Pages | 173-186 |
| Date | 14 May 2018 |
| Published date | 14 May 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-02-2017-0008 |
| Author | Catherine Cosgrave,Myfanwy Maple,Rafat Hussain |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Mental health education |
Work challenges negatively affecting the
job satisfaction of early career community
mental health professionals working
in rural Australia: findings from a
qualitative study
Catherine Cosgrave, Myfanwy Maple and Rafat Hussain
Abstract
Purpose –Some of Australia’s most severe and protracted workforce shortages are in public sector
community mental health (CMH) services. Research identifying the factors affecting staff turnover of this
workforce has been limited. The purpose of this paper is to identify work factors negatively affecting the job
satisfaction of early career health professionals working in rural Australia’s public sector CMH services.
Design/methodology/approach –Intotal, 25 health professionalsworking in rural and remote CMH services
in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, for NSWHealth participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews.
Findings –The study identifiedfive work-related challengesnegatively affecting job satisfaction: developinga
profession-specific identity; providing quality multidisciplinary care; working in a resource-constrained service
environment; working with a demanding client group; and managing personaland professional boundaries.
Practical implications –These findings highlight the need to provide time-critical supports to address the
challenges facing rural-based CMH professionals in their early career years in order to maximise job
satisfaction and reduce avoidable turnover.
Originality/value –Overall, the study found that the factors negatively affecting the job satisfaction of early
career rural-based CMH professionals affects all professionals working in rural CMH, and these negative
effects increase with service remoteness. For those in early career, having to simultaneously deal with
significant rural health and sector-specific constraints and professional challenges has a negative multiplier
effect on their job satisfaction. It is this phenomenon that likely explains the high levels of job dissatisfaction
and turnover found among Australia’s rural-based early career CMH professionals. By understanding these
multiple and simultaneous pressures on rural-based early career CMH professionals, public health services
and governments involved in addressing rural mental health workforce issues will be better able to identify
and implement time-critical supports for this cohort of workers. These findings and proposed strategies
potentially have relevance beyond Australia’s rural CMH workforce to Australia’s broader early career nursing
and allied health rural workforce as well as internationally for other countries that have a similar physical
geography and health system.
Keywords Australia, Public health, Community mental health, Early career health workforce,
Rural and remote health
Paper type Research paper
Background
Health workforce shortages in rural areas are a global phenomenon (World Health Organisation,
2010). In countries like Australia and Canada, with large land masses and many small, widely
dispersed rural communities, governmentsface significant challenges in providing adequate rural
health services.A major contributing factor is chronicrural health workforce shortagesarising from
Received 15 February 2017
Revised 5 May 2017
4 July 2017
14 August 2017
5 October 2017
Accepted 5 October 2017
The authors acknowledge the
CMH professionals who
generously gave their time to
participate in this study and the
NSW rural LHDs that approved its
undertaking.
Catherine Cosgrave is a
Research Fellow at the School
of Rural Health, University of
Melbourne, Wangaratta,
Australia; and School of Health,
University of New England,
Armidale, Australia.
Myfanwy Maple is based at
School of Health,
University of New England,
Armidale, Australia.
Rafat Hussain is based at
Medical School,
Australian National University,
Canberra, Australia.
DOI 10.1108/JMHTEP-02-2017-0008 VOL. 13 NO. 3 2018, pp. 173-186, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1755-6228
j
THE JOURNAL OF MENTALHEALTH TRAINING, EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
j
PAGE173
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