title: Influence of selected sociodemographic factors on psychosocial workload of nurses and association of this burden with absenteeism at work.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study has been to determine if sociodemographic factors: age, sex and duration of employment as well as the presence of chronic comorbidities exert significant effect on subjective assessment of psychosocial working conditions of nurses. Moreover, we analyzed whether the abovementioned variables influenced the level of absenteeism at work during a year preceding the study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study, conducted between December 2012 and January 2013, included 789 nurses employed at public and private healthcare institutions in Białystok. The participants were surveyed by means of the "Psychosocial Working Conditions" questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women accounted for significantly higher scores of the Desired Changes Scale and significantly lower values of the Well-being Scale as compared to men. Respondents' age and duration of employment correlated significantly with the scores of the Demands and Desired Changes Scales. Moreover, we documented significant inverse correlations between the age and tenure and the scores of the Social Support and Well-being Scales. Furthermore, duration of employment was inversely correlated with the results of the Control Scale. The respondents with chronic conditions showed significantly higher scores of the Desired Changes Scale and significantly lower values of the Control and Well-being Scales. We found an inverse correlation between the number of sick leave days and the value of the Well-being Scale, which was also the case with a subset of nurses without chronic conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Similar to other professional groups, a nursing team management requires the use of human resources management techniques and identification of a person being responsible for coordination of the group and diagnosis of its psychosocial needs.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Bialystok / Uniwersytet Medyczny w Białymstoku, Białystok, Poland (Department of Integrated Medical Care / Zakład Zintegrowanej Opieki Medycznej). kkowalczuk@op.pl.
authors.forename: Krystyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kowalczuk
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Bialystok / Uniwersytet Medyczny w Białymstoku, Białystok, Poland (Department of Integrated Medical Care / Zakład Zintegrowanej Opieki Medycznej).
authors.forename: Elżbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krajewska-Kułak
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology*; D011044:Poland; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology*; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: human resources management; job satisfaction; occupational medicine; psychology of work; quality of care; stress