Attractive Work : Nurses´ work in operating departments, and factors that make it attractive

Background: Previous studies show that nurse retention is one of the most effective strategies to counteract nursing shortages. Few studies have focused on the crucial resource of registered specialist nurses in operating departments. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to gain knowledge on registered specialist nurses’ and assistant nurses’ work in operating departments and on what factors they consider to be important for attractive work. Methods: In Study I, operating room nurses were interviewed regarding their perspective on their work. In Studies II and III, specialist registered nurses and assistant nurses at operating departments in a Swedish county council responded to the Attractive Work Questionnaire. Study IV is a case study with interviews, a review of organisational goal documents and data concerning the number of planned, acute and cancelled operations. Findings: The adaption of the Attractive Work Questionnaire for nurses in operating departments was satisfying. The most important factors for attractive work were: Relationship, Leadership and Status. The factors with the largest discrepancies between their important to work attractiveness and their rating at the nurses’ current work were: Salary, Organisation and Physical Work Environment. It was important for nurses to be able to prepare for and be in control of the different work tasks. However, the daily operating schedule guided the nurses’ work, and changes in the schedule, nurse shortages and the design of the premises constituted obstacles to their work. Conclusion: The Attractive Work Questionnaire provided specific information to management on what to focus on to make work attractive. The majority of the identified attractive factors are already known to be of importance in nurse retention; however, factors requiring more investigation are Equipment, Physical Work Environment and Location (of the workplace). Their work prerequisites did not enable the specialist and assistant nurses to reach what they saw as their daily goals. Regularly occurring activities, such as acute and cancelled operations, were interpreted as obstacles to reaching daily goals