[Subjective aspects of quality of life in hospital workers]

The work of hospital nurses involves a variety of tasks and duties that can become an underlying cause of stress and personal failure to them both in their private and professional life. In this study we evaluated the perceived quality of life of 32 hospital nurses in two Wards (A and B) through a self-administered questionnaire and semi-structured interview. We found significant differences between the two Wards on two items: "Work organization" (A = 7.7; B = 5.2; H = 5.47; p =.019) which reflects the physical and emotional job demands as well as the work climate, and "Leisure time" (A = 4.0; B = 6.4; H = 4.42; p =.035) which reflects the possibility that the individual has to recovery from fatigue and stress through rest and leisure activities. The economic situation was found to be better for nurses who were married or live with a partner than for those living alone (mean score respectively 7.9 vs. 5.9). Shift-work appeared to affect both sleep and nutrition. Social functioning (relationships with partner, work colleagues, friends) emerged as very important and a source of satisfaction (mean score 7.1). Married and older nurses expressed greater difficulty in managing family commitments and their own personal well being. Administrative and organizational interventions should be addressed to solve these difficulties and prevent them from becoming chronic. A deeper knowledge and consideration of the subjective assessment by hospital workers of their working life is an important means to highlight the crucial factors and help in planning risk-reduction interventions.