Determination of the Working Conditions of Emergency Nurses

Abstract

Working conditions are important in achieving patient and employee safety, quality care and favorable patient outcomes. The study was carried out in a descriptive design to determine the working conditions of emergency nurses in the context of personal rights. The sample of the study consisted of a total of 133 nurses working in nine private and one university hospital on the European side of Istanbul. The data were collected from January 2008 through October 2008. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage distribution, mean and standard deviation. The majority of the emergency nurses were young, inexperienced and high school and associate degree graduates (72.2%), they were oriented to the institution and the department, they thought that they could not be promoted because they were poorly educated (59.4%), their performance was regularly evaluated (58.6%), they were worried that their salary was not sufficient (80.4%), they did not receive additional compensation because they were working in the emergency department (75.2%), they did not get enough leave because of long weekly hours and long daily hours; also they benefited from services of the department of occupational health and safety (96.3%), experienced health problems after starting to work in the emergency department (75.2%), were frequently exposed to verbal violence (79.7%), and experienced the thought of dismissal (75.2%). As a result, it can be claimed that emergency nurses are faced with negative situations in terms of working hours and breaks, working style, leaves, awareness about the leave rules and procedures, remuneration, career development, employee health and job security. © 2023 Ondokuz Mayis Universitesi. All rights reserved.