The well-being of Hungarian nurses in a changing health care system

Aim Present study aimed to investigate how nurses perceived the alteration of the Hungarian health care system at their workplaces. Furthermore, it was examined how uncertainty caused by the changes affects the positive and negative wellbeing of nurses. Methods The cross-sectional study was conducted in six Hungarian hospitals during the period between October and December 2010. The questionnaire used contained questions regarding socio-demographic data, the Well-being Scale, the Job Demand Scale, the Job Control Scale, the Job Social Support Scale and six self-developed questions to investigate uncertainty. Data of 1048 person were analyzed with SPSS 18.0 statistical programme. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and unpaired two-sample t-test were conducted. Results The alteration of the health care system affected the workplaces of 64.6% of the respondents. The fear of losing the co-workers (p<0.001), of relocation into another ward/department (p=0.001) and of reduction of wage (p<0.001), furthermore, inability to attend in-service trainings (p=0.009) occurred significantly more often among those who experienced the reorganization. Beside work demand, control and support also uncertainty contributed significantly to the explanatory power of the nurses’ positive (p=0.003) and negative (p<0.001) wellbeing. Conclusion The intensive feeling of uncertainty increased the negative well-being of the nurses. As control and support at the workplace reduce the feeling of uncertainty they need to be enhanced. Workplace leaders might have a big role in this and they could also give nurses more opportunities to shape their workplace environment.