Comfort Levels of Surgical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Working in surgical units is a challenging experience for nurses that may cause them to become exhausted, physically and mentally tired, and sometimes ill. Our study aimed to examine the comfort levels of surgical nurses. We collected data from three surgical units of a training and research hospital in Istanbul. We included 95 surgical nurses in the study. Each study participant completed an online the personal information form and the Shortened General Comfort Questionnaire (SGCQ). We used descriptive statistical methods for data analysis. The mean age of the surgical nurses was 27.81 (±2.56) years, 70.5% were women, 62.1% were single, 87.4% were undergraduates, and 35.8% had a daily standing time of 7‒9 hours. The nurses scored 3.25 ± 0.46 on the complete SGCQ, and 2.94 (±0.51), 3.59 (±0.57), and 3.22 (±0.59) on the SGCQ relief, ease, and transcendence types of comfort, respectively. The nurses who were not willing to work in a surgical unit, dissatisfied with the nursing profession, and stood for a long time each day had statistically significant low comfort levels (p < .01). The overall comfort level of the surgical nurses included in our study was slightly above average. Effectively managing factors that reduce surgical nurses' comfort, ensuring they obtain sufficient rest, and providing education and training to assist them with stress management may be good solutions.