Job sharing: impact on the general well-being of female nurses

Women today have more life choices than ever before: career, marriage, motherhood, or any combination of the three. Unfortunately little has been done to make up for the competing demands of these roles. Job sharing may be the alternative choice which allows working women to cope with the multiple stressors of having it all--career and family without having to sacrifice their sense of well-being. Nursing administrators stand to benefit from a work schedule alternative which promotes a healthy balance between work and family. Job sharing may offer a solution to the loss of valued staff nurses who require less than full-time employment. In order to compare the general well-being of female nurses who are employed in full-time, casual part-time, and job sharing positions a descriptive correlation study was conducted. One hundred female nurses between the ages of 22 and 40 who have their children living at home with them completed the 18-Item General Well-Being Questionnaire. Additional questions regarding job satisfaction, physical health status, and demographic data were also included. The results of the analyses of variances revealed there were no statistical differences between the general well-being scores of women working full-time, casual part-time, or job sharing. However, crosstabulations showed the job sharing nurses had the highest ratings for job satisfaction and physical health status.