Distress and working conditions in the administrative and nursing staff of the Hospital Pediátrico Baca Ortiz, Ecuador

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the presence of distress in the administrative and nursing staff of the Hospital Pediátrico “Baca Ortiz” (HPBO) associated with working conditions in the first semester of 2020. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out on the nursing and administrative staff working in the aforementioned hospital, to whom a questionnaire was applied to determine the sociodemographic and work characteristics, as well as the modified Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) for the evaluation of the mental and psychological health of the participants during the last 4 weeks.  Results: Of the 284 workers, there was a predominance of the female sex (84.5%; n=240). The nursing staff showed a high job security perception (68.57%) in all the activities they performed. Regarding the physical symptoms, the administration personnel had a higher frequency of pain in the neck (63.2%), back (53.5%) and wrist, hands or fingers (43.1%), while in the nursing staff pain was more frequent in the lower limbs (32.1%) and the back (48.6%) (p<0.05). The presence of distress was greater in the nursing staff (69.2%; n=9) compared to the administrative staff (30.8%; n=4). Conclusion: The workers of the HPBO´s nursing and administration service have a similar frequency of work distress to that of previous reports during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a predominance of nursing staff but without differences between both work groups, with a greater perception of work security in this group and a variable physical symptom profile according to the type of activity carried out.