Young nurses' perceptions about their employment, working and health conditions

Objective: to interpret the perceptions that young nursing professionals have about the relationship between working conditions, employment, and health. Method: qualitative study with an interpretative approach of the work experiences of fifteen young nurses, who participated in the research through voluntary snowball sampling. Data from interviews and focus groups were analyzed to achieve an approximation to the reality of professional life. Results: the relevant findings of the study indicated that job insecurity is characteristic of this population group, especially with regard to the type of hiring and remuneration received. Psychosocial working conditions were those that caused the greatest impact on mental and physical health according to the participants, and these conditions were aggravated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: this study presents, from the perspective of young nurses, how the macro and microstructural characteristics of work and its relationship with health are perceived, pointing out the key elements to generate interventions with a life course approach that disseminate the postulates of decent work and a healthy environment in their work environments, as well as actions to prevent injuries or damage to the health of nurses.