Hospital Practices and Research

Abstract Background: Nurses play a vital role in healthcare, and their well-being directly impacts the quality of patient care they provide. However, the demanding nature of nursing work, characterized by long hours, shift work, and emotional strain, can affect their personal lives, including marital quality.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional empathy, alexithymia, and marital quality in nursing students in Ahvaz City and to predict marital quality based on emotional empathy and alexithymia.
Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population included all married nursing students at Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences in 2023. A sample of 204 married students was selected using the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and simultaneous regression analysis. SPSS software v27 was used for data analysis.
Results: The results showed that emotional empathy had a positive and significant correlation with marital quality (p <0.001), and alexithymia had a negative and significant correlation with marital quality (p <0.001) in nursing students. The results of the simultaneous regression analysis showed that emotional empathy and alexithymia predicted 49% of the variance in marital quality.
Conclusion: This study identifies emotional empathy and alexithymia as important factors in marital quality for nursing students. However, recognizing the complexity of marital satisfaction, the authors advocate for interventions that address these factors alongside other relevant contributors.

Abstract Introduction: Nurses who have difficulty balancing their family role and responsibilities because of intense work pressure tend to leave their current jobs to work in organizations which offer better working conditions, lower workloads, and more managerial support.
Objective: This study aimed to determine nurses’ work-family conflict (WFC), job satisfaction, and intention to leave the job in a private hospital.
Methods: This descriptive study is based on a methodological and causal research design. The population of the study included 98 nurses working in a private hospital. The research model is tested with structural equation modelling (SEM).
Results: Nurses working changing shifts reported statistically higher levels of work-to-family conflict and workload than those consistently working daytime shifts. Managerial support and workload explained 48% of WFC. Work structure alone explained 44% of job satisfaction. Job satisfaction and WFC explained 17% of the variance in intention to leave.
Conclusion: Nurses who have difficulty balancing their family roles and responsibilities because of intense work pressure tend to leave their current jobs to work in organizations which offer better working conditions, lower workload, and more managerial support. The work structure of nurses should be reorganized in order to enhance nurses’ job satisfaction.