Satisfaction and quality of life of nurses satisfaction and quality of life of nurses in a public hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: To evaluate the satisfaction and quality of life (QL) of nurses working in a public hospital. Method: This is a cross-sectional study developed during COVID-19 with nurses who had 6 months of work, between October 2020 and February 2021, at a State Oncological Reference Hospital in São Luís-MA. A questionnaire was applied on sociodemographic characteristics and the WHOQOL-bref and Employee Satisfaction Index (ESI) instruments. A normality test was performed followed by the Spearman correlation coefficient with a significance level of 5%. Results: 71 nurses participated in the survey and the average QL scores in all domains are regular (3.64) and employee satisfaction, in all domains, is low (2.50). A weak positive correlation was observed in all domains of the WHOQOL-bref and in the autonomy of the ESI (physical - r=0.482; psychological - r=0.285; social - r=0.318; and environment - r=0.251), while weak negative correlation was observed between the professional status and the psychological (r=-0.312) and the social (r=-0.374) domain and work and environment requirements (r=-0.295). Conclusion and implications for practice: The nurses showed regular and low QL, satisfied and knowing the reasons helps managers to propose interventions to reduce the QL benefit and to improve the care provided.