Effects of Working Conditions of the Operating Room Personnel on Their Quality of Life

Objective: The concerns of healthcare workers about their working conditions and working environment affect their Quality of Life (QOL). Operating room environment requires working attentively and at a high pace. Our objective in this study was to examine the effects of working conditions of an operating room on the QoL of the operating room personnel.
Methods: Healthcare workers working in the operating room of Samsun Education and Research Hospital were included in the study. The “Quality of Work-Life Scale” developed by Aydın et al., was used to determine the level of work-life quality of healthcare workers. A 21-question survey evaluating the demographic and occupational characteristics of the employees was also administered.
Results: One hundred and two personnel in the operating room were included in our study. Total mean score of the “QoL Scale” of healthcare workers was 76.63±10.55. A negative relationship was found between the age of healthcare workers and job stress and time pressure. Working time in the operating room was negatively associated with job discrimination and social integration into the organization. The risk of occupational accidents and diseases was positively associated with physical conditions in the workplace, work stress and time pressure. Discrimination in the workplace and social integration into the organization displayed a positive association with work stress and time pressure.
Conclusion: Increasing work experience along with increasing age of the healthcare workers were considered to reduce work stress and time pressure. It was also found that the time spent in the operating room-mitigated workplace discrimination and improved social integration into the organization. As a result, as the factors involved in the evaluation of quality of work-life, which are multidimensionally interrelated, the situations complicating the work conditions physically and psychologically increase work stress further and negatively influence the QoL at work.