The health-related quality of life of nursing workers: A cross-sectional study in medical institutions

Aims This study aimed to evaluate the health-related quality of life of nursing workers and influential factors. Background Nursing workers are under great occupational stress. However, few population-level studies of nursing workers' health conditions have been reported from China. Design This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 12 medical institutions in east China between January and March 2015. Methods Social-demographic information, nursing workers' work-related information and health-related quality of life using the Chinese (mainland) version of the Short Form 36 health survey were collected by a self-administrated questionnaire. Results Nursing workers reported significantly lower scores of the vitality, mental health dimensions, and mental component summary of the Short Form 36 survey compared with general population reference values. They scored significantly higher for five other dimensions and comparably for the physical role dimension. Pre-job training, families' positive attitudes to their job, and good relationships with clients were positively related with nursing workers' mental well-being. Conclusion To promote nursing workers' mental health, compulsory work-related training, voluntary psychological counselling, and targeted legislation are needed.