Home Visitor Job Satisfaction and Turnover.

This paper summarizes findings of a 3-year study of the job satisfaction and turnover of home visitors, both professional and paraprofessional, in programs which link families-at-risk for impaired functioning to medical home care and other resources. Specifically, the study examined: (1) home visitor personal characteristics that influence turnover; (2) organizational characteristics that influence job satisfaction and turnover; and (3) the interaction between the home visitor and the organization. The study involved three survey interviews with all (N=46) home visitors employed in a well-established child abuse and neglect prevention program. The survey instrument evaluated the following individual and organizational constructs: satisfaction with work, supervision and pay; overall job satisfaction; positive or negative affectivity; affect toward the home visitor role; satisfaction with life; locus of control; self-esteem; trust versus cynicism; belief in a just world; belief in a benevolent world; neuroticism; dysfunctional thinking; adult attachment; perceptions of work characteristics; and burnout. Responses were analyzed in terms of actual turnover. Job "leavers" were more likely than job "stayers" to report feeling "upset," had higher self-efficacy scores, expressed greater overall satisfaction than "stayers," were less satisfied with pay, and were less satisfied with supervision. (Contains 19 references.) (DB)