PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY AND WELLBEING IN NURSES

Abstract

http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/217976926676

Objective: to identify nurses´ level of wellbeing and relate it to aspects of professional practice. Method: a cross-sectional analytic study, with 128 nurses from public and private health services of the municipality of Rondonópolis-MT. A professional practice questionnaire and a validated level of wellbeing questionnaire were applied and analyzed by linear regression. Results: it was found that 78.1% of nurses have high welfare, women (82.5%) more than men (61.5%). Work overload is detrimental to wellbeing. And, paradoxically, salary (as a function of working hours) is also negatively related to wellbeing. There are complaints about counter-efficient structural conditions in institutions. Working in hospitals and similar institutions decreases wellbeing, but being involved in direct patient care still contributes to wellbeing. Job satisfaction and perceived professional efficiency increase wellbeing. Conclusion: nurses should rethink their professional practice, refusing excessive weekly working hours, demanding better structural conditions from institutions and increasing their efficiency through further specialization.