Factors Influencing Healthcare Professionals’ Performance during Hajj Season of 2019 in Al-Madinah

Background: Pilgrimage (Hajj) is the largest religious gathering worldwide performed yearly in Saudi Arabia. Saudi health authorities have extensive experience in providing a high health care standard to all visitors. Saudi experience successfully developed and is increasing year after year. This study was conducted to assess factors influencing healthcare professionals’ performance during Hajj season. Objective: To determine factors influencing the performance of healthcare professionals’ providing health services to the pilgrims in four major hospitals and two health care centres in Al-Madinah Al-Munawara, Saudi Arabia, focusing on the impact of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and personal characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (MJSQ) and Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) to survey 752 healthcare professionals. Results: The response rate for this study was 71% (n=536). Male health workers (44.4%, n=238) were more satisfied than females (65.6%, n= 298) (p<0.001). There was no evidence for a significant difference between males and females (p=0.094) concerning organizational commitment. Regarding the level of occupation in job satisfaction, this study showed a significant difference between nurses and respiratory therapists (highly satisfied) (p<0.001). Low job satisfaction among nurses is a bad indicator that needs focusing on its real causes. There was no evidence for a significant difference between males and females for organizational commitment (p<0.094). There was a significant difference between different age levels as regard organizational commitment (p<0.000). People having more than 42 years significantly differ from all other age groups There was a significant difference (p<0.000) between different levels of marital status for organizational commitment but there was no significant difference between different levels of marital status for job satisfaction (p=0.192). There was a significant difference between different levels of occupational job satisfaction. There was a significant difference between different levels of experience in job satisfaction (p=0.008). The higher the experience period, the higher the job satisfaction. Conclusion: This study offers an overview for the way the hospitals of ministry of health (MOH) are managed and for its policies regarding several aspects of human resources to improve the use of healthcare manpower in future Hajj seasons.