Work Ability and Quality of Life for Healthcare Workers

Nurses and physicians are main manpower in the healthcare system. The work ability of these professionals is closely related to a healthcare system's quality and effectiveness. Therefore, realizing which factors might influence their work ability would be essential for the maintaining and promoting work ability. This study, thus, aims to investigate the work ability and its relationship with quality of life for clinical nurses and physicians. A cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from a medical hospital in middle Taiwan. Stratified sampling was used to obtain a sample of participants from both nurses and physicians. The self-administered questionnaire includes two parts: (1) Work Ability Index (WAI) is used to measure self-reported work ability; (2) WHOQOL-BREF is the self-assessed quality of life. Two hundred and seventy five nursing professionals (with a response rate of 84%) and fifty seven clinical physicians (with a response rate of 52%) were obtained from a medical center of middle Taiwan. The results of this study indicated that work ability of nurses' increase with age until after the age of 41. Moreover, the residents rated significant lower quality of life in the physical and social domains than others. These findings could provide some useful information for the planning and developing of human resource in healthcare institute.