Salutary factors and hospital work environments: a qualitative descriptive study of nurses in Sweden

Håkan Nunstedt,Sandra Pennbrant,Ayman Obeid,Monica Eriksson,Lisbeth Hillström,Anh Truong

doi:10.1186/s12912-020-00521-y

Abstract

BackgroundExtensive research describes how nurses experience their work environment. The conditions are described as stressful and dissatisfying with nurses intending to leave their workplace. Knowledge about the personal perception regarding why nurses consider leaving the hospital workplace is limited. The purpose of this study was to understand why hospital nurses remain in their workplace, which facilitates their continuation in the profession.ObjectiveThe objective was to explore and describe factors explaining why hospital nurses remain in the workplace.MethodsThis was a descriptive qualitative study with a purposive sample of hospital nurses in Sweden. The salutogenic theory was the basis for the interview guide and the semi-structured questions. Individual interviews were conducted in a hospital in western Sweden. Content analysis was performed to organize the coded data according to the sense of coherence.ResultsData saturation was achieved with 12 interviews. Within the three themes of coherence (comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness), ten subthemes were categorized from the data as follows: job satisfaction and fun at work, acknowledgement and productivity, togetherness and team security, manageable workload, variable work and challenging situations, workplace and personal space balance, collaboration and supportive leadership, valued role and good work, commitment and involvement, and pride in the professional role.ConclusionsThe main findings of this study have shown the critical importance of being in a meaningful, comprehensible and manageable work context that supports nurses in maintaining their professional identity.

Highlights

Extensive research describes how nurses experience their work environment
Within the three themes of coherence, ten subthemes were categorized from the data as follows: job satisfaction and fun at work, acknowledgement and productivity, togetherness and team security, manageable workload, variable work and challenging situations, workplace and personal space balance, collaboration and supportive leadership, valued role and good work, commitment and involvement, and pride in the professional role
The study was conducted in four phases: 1) a literature review of previous research focusing on salutary factors that have been shown to support sustainability in nurses’ working life; 2) interviews with questions derived from the salutogenic theory and its core concept sense of coherence (SOC) [15]; seven question areas were identified that formed the basis for developing the interview guide; 3) a qualitative content analysis of the data by an inductive approach [21]; and 4) a deductive approach for theoretically discussing the findings [13]

Summary

Introduction

Extensive research describes how nurses experience their work environment. The conditions are described as stressful and dissatisfying with nurses intending to leave their workplace. Knowledge about the personal perception regarding why nurses consider leaving the hospital workplace is limited. The purpose of this study was to understand why hospital nurses remain in their workplace, which facilitates their continuation in the profession. Turnover among nurses is a global concern that negatively affects health services. Nunstedt et al BMC Nursing (2020) 19:125 the variance in nurses’ intent-to-leave scores [3]. As such, providing a healthy work environment to retain nurses in their workplace is essential for sustaining the profession. The present study seeks to understand the factors that can increase both the professional longevity of nurses working in hospitals and nurses’ willingness to remain in work and the profession

Methods

Results

Conclusion