The Mediating Role of Safety Climate Perception in The Relationship Between Quality of Work Life Level and Job Satisfaction in Public Health Sector Employees

The importance of health sector workers in delivering effective and high-quality services within the healthcare sector is significant. Besides various job burdens, the challenging working conditions also negatively impact the job performance of health sector workers. The direct impact of these negatives on crucial factors such as job satisfaction and quality of life increases the importance of these factors. This study aims to determine the effect of perceived safety climate on the levels of job satisfaction and quality of life, and the relationships among these parameters, by examining 500 health sector workers employed at a public hospital in Bakırköy, Istanbul, Türkiye. By identifying the socio-demographic variables of the sample, the study investigates the effect of perceived safety climate on these variables and their relationship with job satisfaction and quality of life at work. The results showed a positive and very strong correlation between the total scores of the safety climate scale and job satisfaction scale (r=0.766, p=0.001) and between the total scores of the safety climate scale and quality of life scale (r=0.769, p=0.000). According to these results, an increase in participants' perceptions of safety climate directly affects their levels of job satisfaction and quality of life, with a directly proportional relationship between them. Mediation analysis using the Sobel test (Sobel Test Statistic=9.962; Std. Error=0.435; p=0.001) revealed that the safety climate plays a mediating role in the relationship between job satisfaction and quality of life. In conclusion, it was determined that the safety climate affects health sector workers' levels of job satisfaction and quality of life in the healthcare sector and plays a mediating role in the relationship between these two scales.