ORIGINAL PAPER
Influence of selected sociodemographic factors on psychosocial workload of nurses
and association of this burden with absenteeism at work
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Medical University of Bialystok / Uniwersytet Medyczny w Białymstoku, Białystok, Poland
(Department of Integrated Medical Care / Zakład Zintegrowanej Opieki Medycznej)
Corresponding author
Krystyna Kowalczuk
Medical University of Bialystok, Department of Integrated Medical Care, M. Skłodowskiej-Curie 7A, 15-096 Białystok, Poland
Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2015;66(5):615-24
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ABSTRACT
Background: The aim of this study has been to determine if sociodemographic factors: age, sex and duration of employment
as well as the presence of chronic comorbidities exert significant effect on subjective assessment of psychosocial working
conditions of nurses. Moreover, we analyzed whether the abovementioned variables influenced the level of absenteeism
at work during a year preceding the study. Material and Methods: The study, conducted between December 2012 and January
2013, included 789 nurses employed at public and private healthcare institutions in Białystok. The participants were surveyed
by means of the “Psychosocial Working Conditions” questionnaire. Results: Women accounted for significantly higher
scores of the Desired Changes Scale and significantly lower values of the Well-being Scale as compared to men. Respondents’
age and duration of employment correlated significantly with the scores of the Demands and Desired Changes Scales. Moreover,
we documented significant inverse correlations between the age and tenure and the scores of the Social Support and
Well-being Scales. Furthermore, duration of employment was inversely correlated with the results of the Control Scale. The
respondents with chronic conditions showed significantly higher scores of the Desired Changes Scale and significantly lower
values of the Control and Well-being Scales. We found an inverse correlation between the number of sick leave days and
the value of the Well-being Scale, which was also the case with a subset of nurses without chronic conditions. Conclusions: Similar to other professional groups, a nursing team management requires the use of human resources management techniques
and identification of a person being responsible for coordination of the group and diagnosis of its psychosocial needs. Med. Pr. 2015;66(5):615–624