Subjective feelings of physical and psychological workload among nurses in Poland – case study

Abstract: The aim of this research was to present workload of nurses in Poland.Anonymous survey research was conducted among 43 Polish nurses over 2 summer months (in 2023). To check the physical load in the subjective assessment of nurses, questions were asked regarding: thermal comfort and the severity of work performed (separated by the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and currently).The psychological workload of nurses was examined using selected questions from the third version of the COPSOQ, taking into account psychosocial working conditions. The examined factors included: demands at work, work organization and job content, interpersonal relations and leadership and work-life conflict. The research received approval from the Research Ethics Committee KEBN-23-82-MM.The results showed that currently 40% of respondents do not feel thermal comfort when working in standard clothing. In the case of using barrier clothing (e.g. against infectious agents), 53% of respondents currently work outside their comfort zones (compared to 100% during the COVID-19 pandemic).In terms of the severity of the work performed, 56% of respondents considered their work as hard and very hard, 37% as moderate and 7% defined it as light and very light. Therefore, 60% of respondents admitted that they often or very often feel physical strain due to their work, while 35% admitted that they sometimes feel such strain.All the results, regarding the physical and psychological load, presented the current workload situation of nurses in Poland (as the examined sample). The results obtained will allow us to direct the necessary changes in the work of nurses.This paper was created (and published) on the basis of results of a research task carried out within the scope of the 6th stage of the National Programme “Governmental Programme for Improvement of Safety and Working Conditions” funded by the resources of the National Centre for Research and Development. Task no. III.PN.08 entitled “Working time in personal protective equipment (PPE) in relation to the risk of infectious agents and the heat load on the body”. The Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute is the Programme’s main co-ordinator.

Keywords: Thermal Comfort, Physical Load, Psychological Load, Nurses, Covid-19

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005179

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