Use of assessment scales, turnover and job strain in nursing staff: A study in a Colombian hospital

AIM: To evaluate the association between job strain and socio-demographic characteristics, social support, job insecurity, use of patient assessment scales, and turnover of nursing staff in a Colombian hospital. BACKGROUND: Nursing is an occupation with high probability of job strain. Use of patient assessment scales and turnover of nursing staff could increase exposure to psychosocial risk. METHOD: A cross-sectional study of 222 nurses was conducted. A survey and the Job Content Questionnaire were used to obtain data at the individual level and free lists and institutional records were used at the hospital unit level. The associations of interest were evaluated with a logistic regression model with robust variance estimator. RESULTS: Many nurses (50.9%) nurses reported job strain, which was positively associated with high use of patient assessment scales (OR = 2.73; 95% CI = 1.35-5.51) but negatively associated with social support (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.80-0.98). Turnover was not statistically associated with job strain. CONCLUSION: Job strain among nurses was associated with a high use of patient assessment scales, but not with turnover of nursing staff. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The findings of this study suggest possible opportunities for managers to improve nursing processes, the work conditions of nursing staff, and the quality of institutions.