Problems faced by the nurses during duty hours

ABSTRACT

To find out the job related problems faced by nurses during duty hours and to know their effects on their personal life, behavior with colleagues, senior nurses, administrators and patients. A Cross sectional study. Allied Hospital Faisalabad, a tertiary care health Institution attached with Punjab Medical College [PMC] Faisalabad. From 1[st] May to 30[th] June 2007. The study was conducted among the charge nurses and student nurses working in Allied Hospital Faisalabad. Data were collected by convenient sampling of 100 nurses, through structured questionnaire which were tabulated and analyzed. A total of 100 nurses participated, out of which 34% were charge nurses and 66% were student nurses. Needle prick injury was the most common accidental hazard among student nurses [48%] and charge nurses [35%], as the P. value was 0.189 so there was no significance difference/association between the two groups of nurses. Musculo-skeletal Problems were commonly found among [23%] charge nurses whereas [15%] student nurses also experienced musculo-skeletal pains during duty hours, as the P. value was 0.189 so there was no significance difference/association between the two groups of nurses related to Musculoskeletal Problems. Regarding problems due to work overload, irritability [35%], sleep disturbances [18%], emotional instability [35%], and mental stress [35%] were found among charge nurses whereas headache [33%], mental stress [27%] and emotional instability [33%] were reported in student nurses. Latex allergy was found among [36%] of charge nurses while [18%] student nurses also reported the same problem due to use of rubber gloves, Twenty-two [33%] student nurses had lack of support from seniors and [39%] students reported difficulty in communication with physicians and senior nursing administrators, whereas [35%] among charge nurses had communication problems with their seniors. As the P value was 0.659, so there was no significance difference / association between the two groups of nurses regarding support from seniors and communication. Needle prick injury was more common among student nurses whereas problems due to work overload were found in majority of charge nurses. Day to day problems faced by the nurses during duty hours could be reduced or prevented through the appropriate measures by concerned authorities