BMC Nurs. 2025 Jul 3;24(1):836. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-03465-3.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Critical care nurses’ boundaries between personal and professional life are sometimes blurred by the high demands placed on nurses. The rise in workaholism in this high-stress setting puts nurses’ health at serious risk and can intensify work-family conflict, endangering both personal health and well-being and professional output.
AIM: This study examined the relationship between workaholism and work-family conflict among critical care nurses.
DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional design that adheres to STROBE criteria.
METHODS AND TOOLS: The study participants consisted of 360 nurses from the critical care units at Alexandria University Hospital. This hospital is the highest-capacitated hospital in Alexandria governorate in terms of bed capacity (6760), number of nurses, and the diversity of services rendered in different qualifications. It provides therapeutic and educational services. Nurses completed two tools, the Dutch Work Addiction Scale (DUWAS) and the Work-Family Conflict Multidimensional Scale (WFC). Statistical tests comprised the Pearson coefficient, the Student t-test, and a one-way ANOVA. The 5% level was used to assess the results’ significance.
RESULTS: Overall workaholism (DUWAS) is positively and significantly correlated with WFC (r = 0.415, p = < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: The results of this cross-sectional study show that among critical care nurses, workaholism is a major factor in work-family conflict. The necessity of focused organizational initiatives in healthcare settings is highlighted by these findings. To lessen excessive job participation, hospital administrators should specifically develop structured work-life balance initiatives, such as flexible scheduling, workload management guidelines, and access to mental health services. Recognizing workaholism symptoms and promoting helpful supervisory techniques should also be emphasized in leadership training.
CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
PMID:40611251 | DOI:10.1186/s12912-025-03465-3