Clinical practice and work-related burden among second career nurses: A cross-sectional survey

Aims and objectives: To explore the differences in clinical practice activities and work-related burden between nurses with past work experience other than nursing (second career nurses: SCNs) and nurses without any past work experience (nonsecond career nurses: NSCNs).

Background: The number of SCNs is increasing. Some studies note that SCNs must perform additional clinical practice activities and experience more work-related burden than NSCNs. However, there are no quantitative studies exploring SCNs' clinical practice and work-related burden.

Design: A cross-sectional survey.

Methods: Research was conducted according to the STROBE statement. Participants were 2,013 nurses working at 56 hospitals in Japan. A 30-item questionnaire was developed to capture clinical practice activities using clinical ladders, asking about the types of clinical practice activities participants had practiced. Every practiced activity received a score of 1. The total count of each clinical practice activity was then summed. The quantitative workload (QW) scale score was used to investigate levels of QW. Higher QW scores indicated higher levels of work-related burden. These variables were then compared between SCNs and NSCNs, and the factors that were associated with high QW among SCNs were examined.

Results: Altogether, 961 participants (328 SCNs and 633 NSCNs) were included in the analyses. No significant differences were shown in clinical practice activities between the groups; however, SCNs' QW was significantly higher than was NSCNs' after controlling for demographic variables. SCNs' high QW was associated with the following variables: unmarried marital status, not having role model nurses and previous employment as a care worker.

Conclusions: Quantitative workload was significantly higher among SCNs than among NSCNs. Tailored support for SCNs' high QW based on their specific needs should be considered.

Relevance to clinical practice: These results can help nurse managers reduce SCNs' work-related burden and illustrate future research directions for this minority group.