Evaluation of Working Conditions of Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Recommendations

Abstract

Aim: Evaluation of the working conditions and recommendations of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Method: The cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted with 199 nurses in a university hospital. Data were collected in May-December 2020 by face-to-face interview method using a questionnaire form prepared by the researchers. Results: 94% of the nurses were women, 60% were married, and their professional experience was 13.30+-7.91 on average. Of the nurses, 38% of whom were assigned to different services during the pandemic, 49.2% worked more than 8 hours in a shift, 23.6% worked more than 40 hours a week, 50.3% worked with 2-3 nurses in a shift, 36%, 7 of them looked at 10 or more patients in a shift, 33.2% of them entered the patient's room 16 times or more. These findings showed a significant difference according to the wards (p<0.05). 89.9% of the nurses are not provided with suitable working conditions, 88.9% are not enough rest periods, 89.4% are not assigned experienced nurses in the clinics, 86.4% are management support and 78.9% are nurses. reported that the number was insufficient. Conclusion: Two-fifths of nurses caring for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 during the global pandemic say that their working hours increased and they did not get enough support from the management. As a solution, the nurses suggested increasing the number of staff, improving working conditions with short and flexible working hours, and providing special training related to the pandemic.

Keywords

• covid-19
• pandemic
• nursing
• nursing services