Nursing staff's perceptions of work in acute and long‐term care hospitals

Abstract

The survey study compared perceptions of work in the nursing staff of acute and long-term care hospitals. The focus was on professional challenges, career prospects, independence, responsibility, the social requirements of work, time pressure and workload. Consistent differences were found in the extent to which the two groups experienced their work as challenging: the scores were lower in the long-term care hospital than in the general hospital. For example, 40% of the respondents in the long-term hospital felt their work was too easy compared with their knowledge and skills, while the figure was only 9% in the general hospital. Among these workers, a simultaneous decline was found in personal resources, as measured by psychosomatic symptoms, and in the individual's commitment to the organization. In the theoretical discussion the experience of lacking challenges is related to the concepts of work orientation, coping strategies and work culture.

Occupational injury among cooks and food service workers in the healthcare sector

“…Compared to acute care facilities, the risks for contusions, burns and irritations or allergies were found to be lower in long-term care facilities. Faster work pace, greater workload, heavier loads and stricter timelines might explain some of these discrepancies [Heiskanen, 1988]. It is expected that acute care facilities are relatively larger than non-acute care and thus should have more structured and safer work practices [McGrail et al, 2007].…”

Prestige: Key to Job Satisfaction for Community Health Nurses

“…This positive relationship may also be due to this being primarily a female sample. Heiskanen (1988) noted different expectations and views of employment between men and women, claiming that men tend to place more emphasis on advancement and earnings, whereas women instead consider physical working conditions, good relationships with co-workers, and friendly management. Although nurses in this study considered social interaction to correlate with job satisfaction, it did not predict satisfaction.…”

Staff nurses' role in long‐term care hospitals in Israel: Nurses' perspective

“…Dissatisfaction with career development was found to be associated with under‐utilization of skills. 17 …”

“…Dissatisfaction with career development was found to be associated with under-utilization of skills. 17 Another research study provided insight into what nurse administrators in LTC believed to be important about their role and what they actually did. 16 Results indicated that role responsibilities related to professional nursing and leadership were rated the lowest for importance and participation, while role responsibilities related to human resources management, nursing/health service management and organizational management were rated comparably high for perceived importance and participation.…”