Ratio of Objective and Subjective Criteria for the Quality of Professional Life in Medical Professionals

Background. The relevance of the study of the quality of professional life is due to its relationship with motivation, job efficacy, and performance quality, the psychological well-being of medical workers. However, the variety of approaches to understanding the quality of life determines the need to find scientific guidelines for the development of analytical methods and tools for psychological diagnostics and monitoring the quality of professional life in modern realities.

Objective. The focus is on the analysis of the ratio between objective and subjective criteria for the quality of professional life in medical professionals.

Study Participants. 100 professionals from outpatient clinics in Moscow and Moscow region (M_age — 36.5 years; M_experience — 14.2 years); 71 doctors and 29 mid-level medical personnel; 15 men and 85 women; 42 employees of state outpatient clinics, 58 — non-state medical institution.

Methods. included job satisfaction questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory for medical personnel, the general self-efficacy scale, and the author’s questionnaire for collecting demographic and professional information.

Results. It was found that the main stressors for medical professionals are interaction and communication with patients (distrust, mutual misunderstanding), negative representation of the Other (patients, colleagues), high result responsibility and high workload. Employees of state and non-state medical institution differ significantly in job satisfaction, general self-efficacy, and burnout symptoms (p < 0.05). Job satisfaction clasterisation allowed identifying groups differing significantly in burnout symptoms and self-efficacy, though not differing in objective parameters (volume of workload, qualifications, job level). Indicators of work experience, qualification category, “healthcare link” (nursing personnel and doctors), and the volume of workload related to working with documents and patients did not allow us to identify significant differences in subjective criteria.

Conclusions. The obtained results indicate the prospect of using a number of subjective and objective parameters for further analysis of the quality of professional life in medical professionals.

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