Job Characteristics of Shipboard Independent Duty Hospital Corpsman.

Although shipboard independent duty hospital corpsmen IDC play a critical role as the senior medical department representatives aboard the majority of U.S. Navy ships, relatively little is known about the nature and scope of their tasks. Data from the navy-wide N330 administration of a 7-day work diary indicated an average 59 hour workweek in port and an 85 hour workweek at sea. Length of workweek was associated with ship type, operational tempo, and IDC paygrade. Administrative duties accounted for the greatest proportion of the workweek 53, with direct patient care 21 and organizational requirements 26 distributed about evenly. Specific IDC duties at sea differed somewhat between submarines and surface ships. Job satisfaction was found to be inversely related to the proportion of time required for administrative duties at sea p.01. Results are discussed in the terms of the standard Navy workweek.