The effect of workload on malpractice tendencies and satisfaction levels in surgical nurses

Aim: This study was to investigate the effect of workload on malpractice tendency and satisfaction levels in surgical nurses. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The research was carried out between 15 October 2019 - 15 November 2019 in İzmir Health Sciences University Tepecik Training and Research Hospital. The sample of the research; The study consisted of 230 nurses who worked in the surgical clinics of the hospital and agreed to participate in the study. As data collection tools; Data Form, Workload Scale (ALS), Malpractice Tendency Scale (VET) and VAS scale were used to measure satisfaction. In the analysis of the data; number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, median were calculated.T test, Anova, Mann Whitney U Test, Kruskall Wallis Test and Spearman correlation analysis were used to evaluate the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and scale scores. Results: The mean age of nurses was 34.12 ± 8.72, 53% were under 34, 80.9% were women, 56.5% were married and 59.1% were undergraduate graduates. Malpractice tendency sub-dimensions; drug administration and transfusion (86.00±7.12), falls (22.06±3.33), hospital infections (55.53±6.04), patient monitoring / material safety (40.34± 5.25), communication (23.35±2.43). The average satisfaction level of the nurses was 5.84±2.77, the satisfaction level of the institution was 5.20 ± 2.47 and the satisfaction level of the unit was 6.20±2.67. The average score of the nurses' workload scale was 3.30 ± 0.71. There was no significant relationship between the mean scores of nursing workload and malpractice tendency scale. There was a negative and weak relationship between the total scores of ALS and satisfaction with the profession and the institution. There was a negative and moderate relationship between the total score of the ALS and the level of satisfaction with the unit. Conclusion: Although there was no relationship between nurses' workload and VET scores; There was a weak, negative relationship between the total score of workload scale and satisfaction level of the profession and the institution, a moderate, negative correlation was found between the total scores of ALS and the level of satisfaction with the unit. It may be suggested to carry out studies in different groups on the subject by increasing the number of samples.