The concept of quality of nurse’s work-life developed in the 1970s from socio-technical system theory. Socio-technical system theory is based on two principles first is social and the second is technical both need to be improved at the same time to improve productivity (1). In our organization of health, nurses are considered assorted and most important employees. Nurses play an increasingly large role not just in providing care but their role is shifting to all aspects like patient advocacy and administration (2).
Despite their major contribution to the health sector nurses are facing a lot of issues that need to be addressed. Some of the issues which nurses are facing include, principal positions at a high level are limited for nurses and also, they are not getting the opportunity for higher positions in the health system (3).
Good quality of nursing care will ultimately result in good well-being care and these both are interrelated to work fulfillment. Inadequate quality of work-life might be a contributing factor to a terrible proficient state of mind and a chance of restorative blunders and suicide for seriously care medical attendants (4). These challenges and hurdles are workload burden, no accommodation and transport facility, poor health status of nurses, lack of support from supervisors and administration, lack of promotion and up gradation, poor hospital, and health policies for nurses. Night shifts are difficult to perform as compared to day shifts but still they are not getting night shift and risk allowance (5).
Approximately, 63.25% Chinese & 46% of Canadian nurses feel mild to moderate level of employment related burnout (6). Nursing is a bursting job but because of continuous stress and exhaustion usually lead to fatigue and other psychological consequences. Therefore compassion satisfaction or positive feeling is very important to do better job and this way other people will be benefited (7).
The concept of work-life quality is becoming imperative in the well-being setting (8). Good quality of nurses works life provides a background that enhances nurses personal development. The organization considers nurses as important employee and provide an environment where they can face challenges and reach their goals (9).
The nurse’s life needs are very important to fulfill. Nurses are an important part of health care organizations if the factors like insufficient payments, poor working environment, heavy work burden, no support from upper-level managers, and other factors that are negatively affecting nurses work are not considered; the productivity of the organization will be compromised (10). Organization success depends on good quality care provided by the nurses to the patients. To improve organizational factors, it is important to remove hurdles that are causing barriers in providing good quality care (11).
As per Global Health Organization estimates from 2013, 29 million nurses and midwives in the world, with more than one million needed by the year 2020. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, an extra 11 million nurses are needed to avoid further shortages. Owing to a lack of potential educators, high returns, and unequal distribution of jobs, the nursing profession continues to face shortages (12,13).
Because ensuring the quality of patient care is the core of the nursing practice, any irregularity in the employment of nurses to adapt to care demand is a serious threat to the quality of care (14). With appropriate nursing care, hospital-acquired infection, hospitalization, risk of mortality, cardiopulmonary incidence, and other effects can all be decreased. Several studies have identified a nurse shortage as a barrier to improving the efficiency and quality of care (15). To recruit and retain new employees, high quality of work-life is required and enhances productivity, lowers burnout, and turnover (16).
Work schedules that are too busy, insufficient staffing, a role ambiguity in decision-making, compliance with standards that are unrelated to nursing, a lack of educational initiatives, and an unpleasant working environment and insufficient wages were all cited as important determinants of low QWL (17). Work-life quality is also influenced by management, relationships with colleagues, career development opportunities, and the learning environment (18). Other studies have confirmed that offering possibilities for contributing to productivity, such as providing learning opportunities and providing support from top management, enhances the effectiveness of nurses' work life (19).
The basic purpose of the study is to comparative study on work-life quality among nurses at public and private sector tertiary care hospitals. It is crucial to understand the challenges that nurses face (such as workload, staff stress levels, working hours, the image of nurses in society and health care organizations, and the balance between work and personal life) and how these challenges affect the quality of nurses' work lives and, ultimately, patient care. This research will serve as a foundation for enhancing the work-life quality of nurses.