Comparison of the general health level between the nurses working in the hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences and Social Security Hospital in 2018-2019

Background and Aim: Long time working with seriously ill patients and handling protective role for the patients with specific diseases makes nurses susceptible to various types of physical disorders, which can lead to mood disorders, social isolation, fatigue, anger, depression and anxiety. The aim of this study was to compare the general health level of nurses working in educational hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences and Social Security Hospital in 2018-2019. Method and Material: This descriptive-analytical study included 400 nurses working in Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (300 nurses) and Social Security Hospital (100 nurses) in 2018. Data collection tool was a general health questionnaire which was completed after interview with the participants. Using SPSS software, data were analyzed by t-test and chi-square. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results:The results showed that nurses of the University of Medical Sciences had a lower level of physical health and social relations and a higher level of health in regard to anxiety and sleep disorder in comparison to the Social Security Hospital nurses (p = 0.01). However, there was no statistically significant differences in suicidal desire and depression between the nurses in the 2 hospital (p = 0.06). There was also a significant relationship between the scores of general health level of the nurses at the University of Medical Sciences and Social Security Hospitals (p = 0.001), indicating that Social Security Hospital nurses had better general health compared to the  nurses at medical university hospitals. Conclusions: Considering the results of this study, nurses working at at medical university hospitals and Social Security Hospital are at risk of health problems which can result in low quality nursing care and low health level in the community. Therefore proper programs are required to improve nurses' health level which can lead to improvement of the health level of the community.