Physician job satisfaction in New Zealand versus the United Kingdom.

Aims: To compare and contrast levels of job satisfaction and job-related stress between doctors in New Zealand (NZ) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Methods: Self-administered questionnaire to 593 NZ doctors and 795 UK doctors. Job satisfaction was scored using the Warr, Cook, and Wall scale. Job stress responses were correlated to satisfaction scores.

Results: Overall, job satisfaction levels were high; however, UK hospital physicians were found to be significantly less satisfied with their work than both NZ physicians and surgeons. Satisfaction with work was found to vary with working hours, amounts of paperwork, level of governmental interference, and time spent in public or private practice.

Conclusion: Doctors in the UK face greater difficulty in gaining satisfaction from their work, as exemplified by the subgroup of UK physicians. This is due to a complex array of factors including conditions of the working environment and sociopolitical factors that are absent or minimal in New Zealand.