Job Satisfaction amongst Nurses in the Arabian Gulf Region- A Systematic Review of the Literature

Article History Received: 23.08.2018 Accepted: 04.09.2018 Published: 30.09.2018 Abstract: The Arabian Gulf countries have witnessed a progressive improvement in the healthcare sector. The infrastructural improvement and the increase in budgetary allocation have led to increase flow of expatriate nurses to the region, but there is no any case study based on the job satisfaction for nurses from the region as whole. The purpose of this study is to assess the job satisfaction level for nurses working in the Arabian Gulf countries. This was a systematic review of literature using articles searcher form PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scholar databases. The articles selected had to be published in English between years 2010 to 2018. Data was extracted and analysed thematically then presented in form of charts, tables, and narrative. The search resulted in 197 articles (PubMed: n = 59, Science Direct: n = 66, and Google Scholar: n = 72) of which eight articles all published in English and after 2012 were approved for systematic review. Major findings indicated the job satisfaction among nurses in Arabian Gulf was moderate with expatriate being slight satisfied than the locals. The factors influencing job satisfaction can be categorised into personal factors, organisational related factors, and work environment related factors. Nurses in the Arabian Gulf region are not fully satisfied with their jobs. It is imperative that the Government and other healthcare sector stakeholders discuss a manner for motivating both the local nurses and the level of job satisfaction.