Aim and background  This study examines the influence of changes in work conditions on stress outcomes as well as influence of changes in stress outcomes on work conditions. As such, it answers questions still open in the literature regarding causality of work environmental characteristics and the health of nurses. Method  A complete, two wave panel design was used with a time interval of 3 years. The sample consisted of 381 hospital nurses in different functions, working in different wards. Results  Changes in work conditions are predictive of the outcomes, especially of job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. The strongest predictors of job satisfaction were social support from supervisor, reward and control over work. The strongest predictors of emotional exhaustion were work and time pressure and physical demands. Reversed relationships were also found for these outcomes. Conclusion  The results of this study are consistent with transactional models of stress that indicate that stressors and stress outcomes mutually influence each other. To prevent nurses from a negative spiral, it seems of importance to intervene early in the process.

Aims.  To describe job conditions, job satisfaction, somatic complaints and burnout of female East African nurses working in public and private hospitals and to determine how these well‐being outcomes are associated with job conditions. Background.  Insight into job conditions, health and well‐being status and their interrelation is virtually lacking for East African nurses. Design.  Cross‐sectional survey of 309 female nurses in private and public hospitals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Methods.  Nurses completed a survey assessing job conditions and job satisfaction (the Leiden Quality of Work Life Questionnaire – nurses version), somatic complaints (subscale of the Symptom CheckList) and burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory). Results.  The East African nurses show high levels of somatic complaints, and nearly one‐third of the sample would be labelled as burned out. In comparison with a Western European nurses reference group, the nurses score unfavourably on job conditions that require financial investment (e.g. workload, staffing, equipment and materials). On aspects related to the social climate (e.g. decision latitude, cooperation), however, they score more favourably. In comparison with private hospital nurses, public hospital nurses score similarly on aspects related to the social climate, but worse on the other job conditions. Public hospital nurses have a lower job satisfaction than private hospital nurses, but show comparable levels of somatic complaints and burnout. Strongest correlates of low job satisfaction are low supervisor support and low financial reward. Burnout is mainly associated with high workload and inadequate information provision, whereas somatic complaints are associated with demanding physical working conditions. Conclusions.  Improvement in job conditions may reduce the high levels of burnout and somatic complaints and enhance job satisfaction in East African nurses. Relevance to clinical practice.  Efforts and investments should be made to improve the job conditions in East African nurses as they are key persons in the delivery of health care.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined a project designed to improve the health and wellness of employees of Brabantia, a Dutch manufacturer of household goods, by means of lifestyle changes and changes in working conditions. METHODS: The workers at one Brabantia site constituted the experimental group, and the workers from two other sites formed the control group. Biomedical variables, lifestyles, general stress reactions, and quality of work were measured identically in both groups at baseline and 1, 2, and 3 years later. During this period, there was continuous registration of absenteeism. RESULTS: The interventions brought about favorable short-term changes in terms of health risks, and there were stable effects on working conditions (especially decision latitude) and absenteeism. CONCLUSIONS: A combination of interventions directed at both lifestyles and the work environment can produce extensive and stable effects on health-related variables, wellness, and absenteeism.

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The aim of the current study was to examine the influence of organizational and environmental work conditions on the job characteristics of nurses and on their health and well-being. The sample consisted of 807 registered nurses working in an academic hospital in Leiden (the Netherlands). The direct influence of work conditions on outcomes was examined. Mediation of job characteristics in the relationships between work conditions and outcomes was tested by means of regression analyses. The results indicated that job characteristics, such as demands and control, mediated the relationship between work conditions, such as work agreements/rewards, and outcomes. By managing organizational and environmental conditions of work, job characteristics can be altered, and these in turn influence nurses' job satisfaction and distress.