Quality of Work Life of Dental Nurses in Primary Care Units in 15 Provinces of Central Region, Thailand

Abstract

This was a cross-sectional study conducted for the purpose of finding out 1) the personal socio-economic and work factors 2) the level of quality of work life 3) the quality of work life that was influenced by personal socio-economic factors and 4) the relationship between work factors and quality of work life of dental nurses in primary care units (PCUs) in 15 provinces of central region of Thailand. Data were collected from 219 dental nurses who work in PCUS by answering questionnaires. A computer program was used to calculate percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA and correlation coefficient. The results of this study showed that dental nurses were mostly female with a mean age of 31.13 years; more than 50% were single, mostly were bachelor's degree holders. Their average years of services was 9.90 about 60% had a monthly income below than 15.000 baht, about 50% had a moderate level of work stress, more than 80% had a debt with average 5,787 baht and a high percentage had a moderate level of work factors, a rather high proportion of dental nurses had a moderate level of quality of work life. Dental nurses with difference in workrelated stress caused by supervisors and colleagues had significantly different levels of quality of life (p <0.05) while those with different in age, sex, marital status, educational levels, years of services, monthly incomes, numbers of dependants, and debts had no difference in their quality of life. The work factors significantly had a moderate level relationship with the quality of work life of dental nurses in PCUs (p <0.05) in the same direction.