Citation

Lewko J, Misiak B, Sierżantowicz R. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019; 16(10): e16101798.

Affiliation

Department of Surgical Nursing, Medical University of Bialystok, 15-089 Bialystok, Poland. renatasierz@wp.pl.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph16101798

PMID

31117197

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In their professional work, nurses struggle repeatedly with difficult situations that are causes of stress. Another issue is the low prestige of the nursing profession compared with other professions, which results in dissatisfaction, increased frustration, and lack of precision when performing professional tasks. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between mental health and quality of life and satisfaction with life in nurses with many years of experience in the profession.

METHODS: The study was conducted in a group of 523 randomly selected professionally active nurses aged over 40 years old from the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Standardized questionnaires were used, including WHOQOL-BREF, a short version of a questionnaire assessing quality of life, the general health questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS).

RESULTS: The mental health component was found to be significantly affected by financial situation (p = 0.005). Among respondents describing their financial status as bad, the assessment of negative mental health symptoms was higher. The remaining studied variables-work experience, nature of work, place of residence, age, material status, having a partner, and having children-did not affect the respondents' mental health status. The co-occurrence of chronic diseases affected (p = 0.008) the intensification of negative mental health symptoms such as somatic symptoms, anxiety, insomnia, and social dysfunction. The intensification of negative mental health symptoms was not connected with absence from work.

CONCLUSIONS: The financial situation of the respondents significantly determined their quality of life as well as influencing mental health components. Nurses' satisfaction with life was correlated with all studied domains of quality of life.

Language: en

Keywords

mental health; quality of life; satisfaction with life; self-assessment