THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JOB SATISFACTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR: A STUDY ON NURSES WORKING IN INTENSIVE CARE UNITS AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS OF HOSPITALS AFFILIATED TO KERMAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES IN 2012

Background: Attention to organizational citizenship behavior and job satisfaction is effective in improving employees’ performance and quality of services in health care organizations. Due to higher job pressure and dissatisfaction among nurses, it seems like evaluating the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and job satisfaction among nurses is important. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all 150 nurses working in intensive care units and emergency departments of hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences were evaluated. Data collection instrument was a checklist on demographic features and a two- part questionnaire consisting of questions about job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior. Data analysis was done using Pearson correlation coefficient and one-way ANOVA. Results: Mean scores of organizational citizenship behavior and satisfaction were respectively 88.21± 10.54 and 83.72± 17.69. There was a significant correlation between the total scores of job satisfaction (intrinsic satisfaction and extrinsic satisfaction) and organizational citizenship by correlation coefficient of 0.204 (P­=­0.012). The results of ANOVA and t-test showed no relationship between demographic variables (age, education, experience, organizational unit, gender) and job satisfaction or organizational citizenship behavior and their dimensions. Conclusion: There seems to be a relation between job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviour. Therefore, in order to achieve the goals of health care system, hospital administrators should pay more attention to this fact. Keywords: Organizational citizenship behavior, Job satisfaction, Nurses, Intensive Care Unit, Emergency