A comparative study of satisfaction and family conflicts among married nurses with different working hours

OBJECTIVE: Compared with other employees, Iranian nurses can lead a very difficult and exhausting life, especially when they are married and have different working hours. In this regard, the present study was carried out in order to compare satisfaction and family conflict among married nurses with different working hours in Tehran. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Multistage cluster sampling was employed to select 230 individuals from among 3,000 married female nurses working in teaching hospitals in Tehran. Among the selected participants, 115 were working morning shift and 115 on evening shift on a rotating shift basis. Enrich marital satisfaction scale and Carlson's work--family conflict questionnaire were employed in order to measure the study's variables. RESULTS: Results showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of marital satisfaction (P > 0.05). However, they were significantly different with regard to work--family conflict (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that being a nurse implies this notion to other people that nurses are not dissatisfied with their marriage; however, family members may not have such a mutual understanding about them.