The Effectiveness of Ideal Clinic System in Increasing Job Satisfaction in the Rural Areas: A Case in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Abstract

Globally, professional nurses are the “engine” of the healthcare system. Therefore, their job satisfaction needs to be taken into consideration as they have a very important duty to perform in health care facilities. In 2013, an Ideal Clinic System (ICS) was developed by the South African Department of Health to improve all healthcare facilities in the country. This was developed to standardise all healthcare facilities nationally and to address infrastructure gaps between the rural and urban healthcare facilities. The intention of the study was to determine the factors that affect the level of satisfaction of professional nurses ever since the implementation of the Ideal Clinic System in the rural Eastern Cape Province. The study will inform the Department of Health of the gaps in the formulation of policies and development of protocols in the implementation of the Ideal Clinic System process. Highlighting these gaps could contribute to job satisfaction amongst professional nurses and benefit local communities’ professional nurses. A grounded mixed research epistemology theory was utilized to determine cause-and-effect interactions between variables. Data were analysed using SPSS expand version. Findings indicated that female participants dominate the nursing profession. The model reveals that recognition and training are most influential in job satisfaction. The contribution/value-add of the study is to enhance job satisfaction, a framework for professional nurses must be formulated based on the above two aspects in relation to the working environment.