A Three-Year Survey of Hospital Nurses' Quality of Working Life - Final Year Post-registration Education Nursing Students

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to investigate how hospital nurses perceive their quality of working life while attending RN-to-BSN programs. Methods: This three-year study used a longitudinal time-series research design with data collected by a survey administered at a medical university in Taiwan. Study subjects included registered nurses who, while working full time in hospitals, were concurrently enrolled in an RN-to-BSN program at a medical university. Data were collected in the second week of the second semester of the students' final year in the program. The Hospital Nurses' Quality of Working Life Questionnaire was used. The range of Cronbach's alpha for the instrument was 0.80 to 0.89. Results: Over the three years, a consistent low mean value of around 2.5 was found for welfare in organizational aspects, working and non-working time utilization, and job prospects in self-actualization. Lesson learned from the SARS experience, during Covid 19 pandemic, praises for nurses' contributions on COVID-19 front line reinforce the weakness of nurses' working life on work related dimensions. Conclusion: The findings of this research reveal what happens to nurses' working lives when they work full time and are enrolled in an RN-to-BSN program. The information obtained through the questionnaire may prove valuable to hospital managers concerned with improving nurses' workplace environment as part of their efforts to improve both nurse retention and the quality of service their nurses provide.