Case manager satisfaction in public health.

Purpose Of The Study: The purpose of this study was to examine correlates of case managers' satisfaction with their work, services, and service network and to identify connections to service performance and service costs.

Primary Practice Setting: A decentralized public health program that exemplifies the trend toward more diverse clients and networked services.

Methodology And Sample: A mixed method design with 34 case managers.

Results: As hypothesized, the case managers' experiences with clients and the service network, and their service effectiveness, were associated with their satisfaction with their jobs and the services they provide. Satisfaction was also positively associated with more timely service delivery. These associations were explained in part by case managers' education and training.

Implications For Case Management Practice: Case managers can achieve high levels of job and service satisfaction in outreach programs serving a diverse client population in a decentralized service network. Case managers' job and service satisfaction improves with reduced service problems and service delays and when case managers can devise work-arounds for persistent service problems. Using advanced practice nurses (APN) and providing more on-the-job training may increase case manager satisfaction with their jobs and the services they provide. Special efforts may be needed to prevent a decline in job satisfaction with years of experience.