The influence of the working environment on the health of nurses

Uvod i cilj: Medicinske sestre i tehničari sastavni su dio djelatnosti zdravstvene zaštite te čine najbrojniju skupinu zdravstvenih djelatnika, a zbog prirode svojeg posla izloženi su velikom broju potencijalno opasnih situacija i štetnih tvari. Dugo radno vrijeme, zahtjevne smjene i izazovni dani u radu medicinske sestre i tehničara mogu utjecati na fizičko, mentalno i emocionalno zdravlje. Ne samo da spomenuto može imati negativan utjecaj na vlastito blagostanje, već također sprječava sposobnost medicinskih sestara i tehničara da pacijentima pruže najbolju moguću skrb. Stoga je okruženje u kojem rade, važno da bude puno podrške kako bi stres u skrbi bio što manji. Cilj ovog rada je ispitati stvarni prikaz dugogodišnjeg rada u sestrinskoj profesiji te njezinih loših učinaka na zdravlje medicinskih sestara i tehničara zaposlenih u Županijskoj bolnici Čakovec. Metode: Istraživanje je provedeno kvantitativnom istraživačkom metodom te broji 106 sudionika. U svrhu istraživanja bio je korišten anketni upitnik koji je sastavljen od ukupno 17 pitanja. Prvi dio upitnika odnosi se na sociodemografske karakteristike sudionika kao što su dob, spol i stupanj obrazovanja. Drugi dio upitnika sastojao se od 14 pitanja koja se odnose na zadovoljstvo poslom koje uključuje najčešće stresore na radnom mjestu, osjećajima koje dožive tijekom radnog dana te u konačnici kakav utjecaj ima sestrinska profesija na njihovo psihofizičko zdravlje. Svi sudionici u ovom istraživanju jesu medicinske sestre/tehničari te su oni stalni zaposlenici u Županijskoj bolnici Čakovec. Rezultati: Medicinske sestre/tehničari najmanje zadovoljstva iskazuju prema administrativnim poslovima, smjenskom radu, neadekvatnim primanjima te su preopterećeni poslom i u konačnici nisu u mogućnosti koristiti godišnji odmor što je rezultat manjka djelatnika u ovoj profesiji. Više od polovice sudionika svoj odjel na kojem rade smatraju neprestanim jakim izvorom stresa koji im narušava psihofizičko zdravlje te su jedne od najčešćih kroničnih bolesti sudionika upravo bolesti endokrinog sustava koji je u mnogim znanstvenim literaturama povezan sa stresom. Zaključak: Sestrinstvo je sve zahtjevnija profesija te su medicinske sestre i tehničari sve više izloženi stresnim i opasnim situacijama koje rezultiraju raznim profesionalnim bolestima.Introduction and aim Nurses are an integral part of health care activities and make up the largest group of health workers, and due to the nature of their work, they are exposed to a large number of potentially dangerous situations and harmful substances. Long working hours, demanding shifts and challenging days of work for nurses can affect physical, mental and emotional health. Not only can this have a negative impact on your own well-being, but it also hinders the ability of nurses to provide the best possible care to patients. Therefore, it is important that the environment in which they work is very supportive so that the stress of caregiving is as low as possible. The aim of this research work is to examine the actual presentation of long-term work in the nursing profession and its bad effects on the health of nurses employed in the Croatian County Hospital of Čakovec. Methods: The research was conducted using a quantitative research method and included 106 participants. For the purpose of the research, a questionnaire consisting of a total of 17 questions was used. The first part of the questionnaire refers to the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, such as age, gender and level of education. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of 14 questions related to job satisfaction, which includes the most common workplace stressors, the feelings they experience during the working day, and ultimately what impact the nursing profession has on their psychophysical health. All participants in this research are nurses and they all are employees of the Croatian County Hospital of Čakovec. Results: Nurses express the least satisfaction with administrative tasks, shift work, inadequate incomes, and are overloaded with work and are ultimately unable to take annual leave, which is the result of a shortage of employees in this profession. More than half of the participants consider their department where they work to be a continuous strong source of stress that impairs their psychophysical health, and one of the most common chronic diseases of the participants is precisely diseases of the endocrine system, which is associated with stress in many scientific literature. Conclusion: Nursing is an increasingly demanding profession, and nurses are increasingly exposed to stressful and dangerous situations that result in various occupational diseases