Rosebenter Awuor Owuor

Factors Related To Quality Of Work Life Among Nurses In Public Hospitals Rosebenter Awuor Owuor

Quality of work life (QWL) of nurses is one of the best ways to understand issues related to their work retention. Studies have found that QWL is related to job characteristics and organizational climate. This descriptive correlational study aimed to describe the levels of QWL among nurses and related factors including job characteristics and organizational climate; and to explore the relationships between QWL and related factors. The subjects were 238 nurses working in five public hospitals in Nyanza Province in the Republic of Kenya. The research instruments were: the Job Diagnostic Scale (JDS), the Organizational Climate Survey (OCS) and the Quality of Work Life Evaluation Scale (QWLES). The reliability coefficients of the JDS, OCS and QWLES were .86, .77, and .82 respectively. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's product-moment correlation were used to analyze data. The results of the study revealed that: (i). The overall mean score of job characteristics as perceived by the subjects was at a high level; (ii) The overall mean score of organizational climate as perceived by the subjects was at a moderate level; (iii) The overall mean score of quality of work life as perceived by the subjects was at a satisfactory level; (iv) There was a significant low positive correlation between job characteristics and quality of work life; (v) There was a significant moderate positive correlation between organizational climate and quality of work life. The results of the study could be baseline information for hospital and nurse administrators of public hospitals in Kenya to develop strategies to improve job characteristics and organizational climate in the hospital in order to enhance quality of work life among nurses.