Abstract

Background: Shift working has the potential of negatively influencing the quality of work life among nurses. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the outbreak of shiftwork-related disorders and the relationship between shift work, occupational stress, and job satisfaction among in a hospital in Iran, to help identify potential strategies for improving the quality of life among shift-working nurses. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 100 shift-working nurses from three hospitals in Iran were randomly selected. Survey of Shift worker questionnaire was used as the main study tool. The nurses' demographic and work condition data were collected using a research-made questionnaire. Furthermore, Cooper's job stress questionnaire was used for collecting stress-related information. Chi-square and One-way ANOVA tests were used for the inferential analysis of data. Results: The most prevalent shiftwork-related problem was found to be psychological disorder (96.4), followed by social life (84.5) and digestive problems (81). Nurses who had chosen shift work voluntarily showed significantly higher job satisfaction as compared to those who were forced to work on shifts (P < 0.05). Moreover, the 1st year of work was reported as the most stressful year of their works in terms of conflict with colleagues and lack of enough experience for doing the given tasks. Conclusions: To reduce the associated disorders and increase job satisfaction among nurses, our study recommends that shift work be assigned preliminarily to the nurses who voluntarily choose to work on shifts. Furthermore, to reduce the nurse's occupational stress, the least conflict with colleagues is recommended.