Job satisfaction and psychological morbidity in medical house officers

The aim of this study was to examine levels of job satisfaction and psychological morbidity in preregistration house physicians working partial shift rotas, full shift rotas, or traditional on-call rotas. The study was carried out at two teaching hospitals in one city, and consisted of a prospective within-subject crossover study at hospital A and a parallel simple descriptive study at hospital B. Sixty preregistration house physicians were included in the study. At hospital A the house officers worked shifts for part of their post and traditional on-call rotas for the remainder. At hospital B the house officers worked a modified on-call rota throughout. The outcome measures used were the 30 item General Health Questionnaire and a self-report job satisfaction scale. Measures were administered at hospital A towards the end of each distinct rota period (on-call or shift) and simultaneously administered at hospital B. Results showed that full shifts were associated with greater psychological morbidity and lower job satisfaction than traditional on-call rotas. Partial shifts were rated more favourably but were nonetheless unpopular. There was a marked difference between hospitals. It would seem that some 'new deal' rotas may increase psychological morbidity and reduce job satisfaction.