Effect of Working Time Quality on the Work-Life Imbalance of Nurses

Kyung Jin Hong

doi:10.11111/jkana.2020.26.1.11

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Hong: Effect of Working Time Quality on the Work-Life Imbalance of Nurses

Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration 2020; 26(1): 11-21.

Published online: 31 January 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11111/jkana.2020.26.1.11

Effect of Working Time Quality on the Work-Life Imbalance of Nurses

Kyung Jin Hong

Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Semyung University, Korea.

Corresponding author: Hong, Kyung Jin. Department of Nursing, Semyung University, 65 Semyung-ro, Jecheon 27136, Korea. Tel: +82-43-649-1358, Fax: +82-43-649-7051, kjhong@semyung.ac.kr

Received 31 July 2019 Revised 2 October 2019 Accepted 10 October 2019

Korean Academy of Nursing Administration

(open-access):

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the working time quality and work-life imbalance and verify the effect of working time quality on nurses' work-life imbalance.

Methods

Data from the Korean Working Condition Survey were analyzed, and a total of 296 nurses were included. Working time quality was measured using the following: number of work hours per week, amount of weekend work, whether work was done during free time to meet work demands, and whether there were any changes in work hours. Five items were used to determine levels of work-life imbalance.

Results

The number of weekend work days was positively related to work-life imbalance (p=.036). Nurses who spent their free time working to meet work demands (p<.001), as well as nurses whose work time changed through an increase in hours (p=.001), showed higher levels of work-life imbalance. In addition, nurses who had worked for less than 1 year had a poor work-life balance compared with those who worked 10 years or more.

Conclusion

To improve nurses' work-life balance, it is essential to improve quality of work time by providing fair schedules, avoiding unpredictable changes in work schedule, and supporting new nurses.

Keywords: KWCS, Nurses, Work-life imbalance, Working time quality

Figures and Tables

Table 1

General Characteristics of Participants (N=296)

Table 2

Working Time Quality and Work-Life Imbalance Levels (N=296)

Table 3

Working Time Quality by Participants' Characteristics (N=296)

^*Mann-Whitney U test.

Table 4

Work-Life Imbalance according to Level of Working Time Quality (N=296)

Table 5

Factors Influencing Work-Life Imbalance (N=296)

^*Reference: Insufficient recovery time=No; Increase in work hours=No; Flexibility in work schedule=Yes; Working during free time=No; Requested come into work on short notice=No; Education=Associate degree; Work experience≥10 years; Type of work time=Part time workers; Shift work=fixed; Monthly wage<200 million won; Time spent travelling from home to work and back≤30 min; No. of people living in household=Live alone; Have working partner in household=No.

Notes

This paper was supported by the Semyung University Research Grant of 2019.

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ORCID iDs: Kyung Jin Hong
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0515-4127
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