Modelling job support, job fit, job role and job satisfaction for school of nursing sessional academic staff

BACKGROUND: Sessional academic staff are an important part of nursing education. Increases in casualisation of the academic workforce continue and satisfaction with the job role is an important bench mark for quality curricula delivery and influences recruitment and retention. This study examined relations between four job constructs - organisation fit, organisation support, staff role and job satisfaction for Sessional Academic Staff at a School of Nursing by creating two path analysis models. METHODS: A cross-sectional correlational survey design was utilised. Participants who were currently working as sessional or casual teaching staff members were invited to complete an online anonymous survey. The data represents a convenience sample of Sessional Academic Staff in 2016 at a large school of Nursing and Midwifery in Australia. After psychometric evaluation of each of the job construct measures in this study we utilised Structural Equation Modelling to better understand the relations of the variables. RESULTS: The measures used in this study were found to be both valid and reliable for this sample. Job support and job fit are positively linked to job satisfaction. Although the hypothesised model did not meet model fit standards, a new ‘nested’ model made substantive sense. CONCLUSION: This small study explored a new scale for measuring academic job role, and demonstrated how it promotes the constructs of job fit and job supports. All four job constructs are important in providing job satisfaction – an outcome that in turn supports staffing stability, retention, and motivation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12912-018-0290-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.