The association between work capacity, quality of life, and organizational climate among nurses

Work capacity is the ability to perform one's job both currently and in the future.

We investigated the association among factors related to work capacity, quality of life, organizational climate, sociodemographics, and work activities among nurses at a university hospital.

This cross-sectional study included 280 nurses from a tertiary referral hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. The Work Capacity Index, the Escala de Clima Organizacional, the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey, and a sociodemographic questionnaire were applied.

Work capacity was moderate-to-low in 45.7% of participants. In the multiple linear regression analysis, it was lower with increasing age (p = 0.019), musculoskeletal disease (p < 0.001), cardiovascular disease (p = 0.001), and functional limitations (p < 0.001) and higher with perceived support from management and the organization (p = 0.017) and with better quality of life scores in the physical aspects (p < 0.001), general health (p = 0.001), and mental health (p < 0.001) domains.

Significant direct correlations were found between work capacity and support from management and the organization, physical aspects, general health, and mental health. Significant inverse correlations were found between work capacity and older age, musculoskeletal disease, cardiovascular disease, and functional limitations.