The relationship between social support and the quality of working life of neonatal intensive care unit nurses in selected hospitals of Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences-2016

Social supports have a key role in nurses’ quality of working life. The present study aimed to measure the quality of working life and social support and examine their relationship in neonatal intensive care unit nurses.

In the present descriptive-correlational study, statistical population consisted of nurses working in neonatal intensive care units of selected hospitals affiliated to Ahwaz University of Medical Sciences, selected by census. Tools used included Zimet et al. Social Support Scale and Brooks' Quality of Working Life of Nurses questionnaire. Validity of this questionnaire was confirmed by 12 experts, and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data were analyzed in SPSS-20.ResultsThe highest mean value in social support pertained to "family" dimension (5.190) and the lowest to "friends" (4.505), and overall mean social support value was 4.785. The quality of working life had the highest mean value in "working life" dimension (3.672) and the lowest in "personal life" (3.350), and overall mean value of quality of working life was 3.550 in nurses. The results obtained showed a significant relationship and a positive correlation between social support and the quality of working life in nurses (P=0.012, r=0.251).Discussion and

The results obtained showed a significant and positive relationship between social support and the quality of working life in nurses. But, the relationship between subscales of these two variables was mildly confirmed. Generally, the present study results concur with the results of previous studies.