Evaluation of work and family life of women working in pre-hospital emergency health services

This study aims to examine the processes of balancing work and family life of female healthcare workers working in pre-hospital emergency healthcare services. In particular, the difficulties experienced during 24-hour shifts and the difficulties related to balancing family responsibilities were addressed. In addition, the effects of perceptions of gender roles and women's participation in the workforce on work-family conflicts were evaluated. The research was conducted with 200 female healthcare workers working in 112 emergency healthcare stations affiliated to the Provincial Health Directorate Emergency Health Services Presidency in Ankara province with a random sample method. Data were collected with a survey method and analyzed with chi-square within the frequency and percentage relationship test using SPSS 27.0 program. Only the Ankara sample was considered in the study and it was limited to quantitative data. The findings revealed that 76.5% of female workers could not fully rest after 24-hour shifts and therefore had difficulty in balancing their traditional family responsibilities. In addition, it was determined that social perspectives shaped women's professional lives. At the end of the study, flexible working hours, psychosocial support mechanisms and equal opportunity policies were suggested to strengthen the work-family life balance. It is thought that this study, which is one of the first quantitative studies conducted on women pre-hospital emergency health services workers in Türkiye, will contribute to the policies to be adopted and implemented.