MentalWorkload and Job Satisfaction in Pre-Hospital Emergency Technicians

Background: Having enough ability to perform delegated tasks has a crucial role in preventing job-related accidents and medical errors. Excessive workload, particularly multitasking, causes increased physical stress and job dissatisfaction. Pre-hospital emergency technicians play a crucial role in saving patients’ lives, therefore assessing their mental workload and job satisfaction is highly important. Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the mental workload of pre-hospital emergency technicians working in hospitals in the city of Ahvaz and its association with job satisfaction. Methods: In this study, 252 pre-hospital emergency technicians were studied. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration- Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) was used to assess the mental workload. The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) questionnaire was used to collect information regarding job satisfaction. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA and chi-square tests. Analyses were performed using SPSS version 22.0. Results: Participants had a moderate level of workload (mean score: 5296). The highest and lowest scores were related to mental demand (69.96 19) and physical demand (32.35 14.3), respectively. Also, participants had a moderate level of job satisfaction, and there was a significant association between job satisfaction and mental demand and frustration (P < 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated an association between job satisfaction and mental demand and frustration in pre-hospital emergency technicians. Therefore, developing appropriate strategies is necessary.