To investigate the factors influencing the job satisfaction of healthcare workers in primary healthcare institutions in Lanzhou City. A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to conduct an online survey among healthcare workers in township health centers across five districts and three counties of Lanzhou City. A self-designed questionnaire was administered to assess job satisfaction, remuneration system, professional identity, career planning, and related factors. The current status and influencing factors of job satisfaction were analyzed. A total of 793 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective response rate of 97.06%. The results on job satisfaction and its influencing factors showed that the average score for job satisfaction was (3.14 ± 0.89), for the remuneration system dimension (3.02 ± 0.90), for the career planning dimension (2.96 ± 0.96), and for the professional identity dimension (3.38 ± 0.97). Using 3 as the midpoint, these scores indicate an overall moderate level of satisfaction. Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations among these factors, with the correlation between professional identity and job satisfaction being the most significant. A structural equation model was constructed, and after secondary fitting, the model fit indices met the standard criteria. The results indicated that career planning partially mediated the relationship between professional identity and job satisfaction, accounting for 20.25% of the total effect. The job satisfaction among healthcare workers at township health centers in Lanzhou City is at a moderate level. Professional identity not only directly influences job satisfaction but also indirectly affects it through career planning. In resource-constrained primary healthcare settings, the impact of professional identity and development expectations on job satisfaction appears to be more significant than material incentives alone. These findings provide context-specific insights into understanding the stability of the healthcare workforce in underdeveloped western regions.
Li et al. (2026) studied this question.