Ebru K. Toruner, Naime Altay, Selma Ziraman and BerrinAtes

Aim:Working in a shift system can disturb quality of life due to chronic fatigue, sleepiness and somatic symptoms. This study aimed to determine the working conditions and problems encountered by nurses working in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the effect on their quality of life.

Method:Nurses who were a member of theNeonatology Nursing Associationof Turkey were included in the study. The study sample consisted of 256 nurses. Data were collected with the descriptive data form and SF-36 quality of life scale. The data were evaluated by frequency, percentage, and Spearman's test.

Results:Mean duration of work in the NICU was 4.8±3.97 years. Nurses mostly worked day and night shifts (60.9%); the mean duration of work was 14.4±3.01 hours per shift. A nurse cared for 5.3±1.27 neonates on average. 9.8% of the nurses were satisfied with the working environment. Common causes of dissatisfaction were low wages, high newborn ratio per nurse and the excessive working hours. 97.3% of nurses stated that working in the unit has an effect on their health. For SF-36 subgroups, the physical function score was high (62.5 ± 23.7), while the scores of the other subgroups were under 50 points. The lowest score was role-physical (28.5±33.2). The nurses' quality of life scores were low in general.

Conclusion:This research was made in order to determine the working conditions of neonatology nurses and the effects of these on their health and life quality.