Reconciliation of Family and Work Life in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics - Systematic Assessment in Different Occupational Groups of a German University Hospital

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Reconciliation of family and work life is an important topic for employees. Due to common work in shifts within the health care sector, this is even more essential for health care workers and has great implications in work satisfaction and individuals ́ health. Within all employees of the department of OB/GYN of the German university hospital Ulm, an anonymous and voluntary survey on compatibility of work and family was performed in the summer of 2017. The questionnaires consisted of established and newly designed tools to assess reconciliation of family/work life as well as work-family (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC). Return rate of questionnaires was 63% (n=136). Physicians (n=33), nurses (n=53), and midwives (n=31) were grouped together as "medical staff" (n=115). There was no significant difference between employees with (n=73) or without children (n=59) regarding WFC and FWC. The group of nurses/midwives and the group of physicians had a significantly higher inter-role conflict (p<0.001) than the group of administrative staff. A negative correlation with "work satisfaction" was found for WFC and FWC. The group of nurses/midwives has significantly higher inter-role conflicts than the administrative staff. Especially the negative correlation of work satisfaction and inter-role conflicts shows the enormous need for improvement in sufficient compatibility of work and family life of employees in the health care sector. This needs to be addressed quickly and effectively as there is an alarming deficit of nurses and midwives in the German health care system.