Abstract:
Objectives of the Research 1. To study the working conditions of nurses at Rajavithi hospital and Ramathibodi hospital. 2. To study the factors which influence the desire to change place of work of nurses. 3. To compare the working conditions and the desire to change place of work of nurses at Rajavithi hospital and nurses at Ramathibodi hospital. Methodology The survey was designed to study the opinion concerning working conditions of nurses at Rajavithi hospital and Ramathibodi hospital. The questionnaire was constructed by the researcher and consists of 7 subjects totaling 74 items. The target popu- 6 months at Rajavithi hospital and Ramathibodi hospital. A systematic non-probability method was used to draw a sample of 100 nurses each from Rajavithi hospital and Ramathibodi hospital. There were requested to fill in the questionnaire themselves. Altogether 176 nurses cooperated and 167 questionnaires were found acceptable. Percentage analysis with cross tabulation of some variables was employed to find out the nurses ideas about working conditions and their desire to change place of work. Major findings 1. There were differences in socio-economic status of nurses at Rajavithi hospital and Ramathibodi hospital, especially regarding professional level education. Nurses at Rajavithi hospital had lower education level than nurses at Ramathibodi hospital. 2. There were differences in working conditions at Rajavithi in working conditions at Rajavithi hospital and Ramathibodi hospital. 3. The percentage of nurses who desire to change place of work was higher at Ramathibodi hospital than that at Rajavithi hospital. 4. The factors which influenced the desire to change place of work were found to be many. These factors interacted and with the data available for analysis it was difficult to ascertain their relative importance. Among the factors analyzed were the nurses ideas about amount of work assigned, salary level, the status of nursing profession compared with others, career, promotion and superiors handling of punishment and promotion superior support for professional advancement, relationship with fellow nurses and with doctor, etc.