The impact of the work conditions of allied health professionals on satisfaction, commitment and psychological distress

Background: Allied health professionals are integral to the effective delivery of hospital-based health care, yet little is known about the working conditions associated with the attitudinal and health outcomes of these employees. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which the demand-control-support model, in combination with organizational justice variables, predicts the employee-level outcomes of allied health professionals. Methodology/Approach: Allied health professionals from an Australian health care organization were surveyed, with 113 (52.6%) participating. The survey included measures of job demands, job control, social support, organizational justice, satisfaction, commitment and psychological distress. Findings: Multiple regression analyses reveal that the additive demand-control-support model predicts the outcome variables of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and psychological distress, whereas the organizational justice variables predicted organizational commitment and psychological distress. Further, both work and nonwork sources of support, in addition to specific justice dimensions, were closely associated with employee-level outcomes. Practical Implications: When coupled with previous research involving social support and organizational justice, the findings from this study suggest that initiatives aimed at strengthening supervisor and nonwork support, while enhancing perceptions of organizational fairness, may offer useful avenues for increasing the levels of satisfaction, commitment and well-being experienced by allied health professionals.