Abstract

Objective:

This study was conducted to investigate the relationships between workload perception and the work-life balance of intensive care nurses working during the pandemic.

Materials and Methods:

Descriptive and cross-sectional research was conducted with 325 intensive care nurses who were members of the Turkish Intensive Care Nurses Association. Data were collected via WhatsApp using Google Surveys for a Nurse Information form, the Individual Workload Perception scale, and the Work-Life Balance scale. Pearson’s correlation and regression analyses were used for the data analysis in addition to descriptive statistics.

Results:

The total average score of the Personal Workload Scale of the intensive care nurses was 3.26±0.60 [minimum (min): 1.71; maximum (max): 4.87] and the total average score of the Work-life Balance scale was 2.79±0.710 (min: 1.3; max: 4.9). The Workload scale total average score significantly increased the Work-life Balance total average score (β=0.658). Daily work time in the intensive care unit significantly decreased the work-life balance total average score (β=-0.160).

Conclusion:

Intensive care nurses’ workload perception and work-life balance were at a moderate level. Workload and long working hours deteriorate the work-life balance of intensive care nurses. Administrative and organizational regulations to enhance the work-life balance of the intensive care nurses by decreasing the workload can be effective in reaching the desired patient care results.

Keywords: COVID-19, work-life balance, workload, pandemic, intensive care, intensive care nursing

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Copyright and license

Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite?

1.
Terzi B, Azizoğlu F. Investigation of the Relationship Between Workload Perception and the Work-life Balance of Intensive Care Nurses Working During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Web-based Cross-sectional Study. Turk J Intensive Care. 2023;21(4):280-287. https://doi.org/10.4274/tybd.galenos.2023.60565