A narrative approach to understanding the nursing work environment in Canada

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Occupational Health Psychology
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Nurses are crucial to healthcare quality, yet face increasing work-life challenges.
• Efforts to improve nurse work environments are ongoing.
• Understanding nurse perceptions of their work is vital for effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore Canadian hospital nurses' experiences with work-life issues.
• To identify factors contributing to effort-reward imbalance in nursing.
• To understand the impact of the work environment on nurses' well-being and care provision.

Main Methods:

• Conducted eight narrative interviews with hospital nurses in Canada.
• Utilized Seigrist's effort-reward imbalance model for analysis.
• Focused on nurses' perceptions of their work environment and its impact.

Main Results:

• Identified a significant effort-reward imbalance in nursing work.
• Highlighted the impact of increasing patient needs, workload, and nurse shortages.
• Found that the inability to provide quality care causes guilt and overcommitment.
• Revealed that work environment issues negatively affect nurses' personal lives and health.

Conclusions:

• Effort-reward imbalance is a critical issue for hospital nurses.
• Work environment factors significantly impact nurses' well-being and their capacity to provide care.
• Addressing workload, nurse shortages, and fostering supportive environments is essential to mitigate nurse stress and improve healthcare outcomes.