Work hour constraints in the German nursing workforce: A quarter of a century in review

Publikations-Art

Zeitschriftenbeitrag (peer-reviewed)

Autoren

Alameddine, M./ Otterbach, S./ Raffi, B./ Sousa-Poza, A.

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Veröffentlicht in

Health Policy

Band/Volume

122/10

DOI

10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.07.023

Seite (von - bis)

1101-1108

Abstract

Background

Work hour constraints (WHC), or the mismatch between desired and actual worktime, can negatively affect work productivity, job satisfaction, worker health and job fluctuations.

Objectives

This study analyzes the WHC trends in the German nursing market between 1990 and 2015.

Methods

Using data from 25 waves (1990–1995 and 1997–2015) of the German Socio-Economic Panel, the contractual, actual, and desired worktime among a representative sample of German nurses (N = 6493) were analyzed. The trends in over/underemployment for full and part-time nurses and the modalities/trends in overtime compensation were analyzed. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition was used to explain changes in worktime.

Results

Although German nurses’ actual and contractual work hours decreased substantially between 1990 and 2015, their desired work hours remained stable (31 h/week), precipitating a persistent gap between actual and desired work hours and an ongoing reliance on overtime. For full-time nurses, the actual work hours consistently exceeded the contracted ones by 3–6 hours. For part-time nurses, the actual and desired work hours have remained very similar, indicating ability to control workforce participation.

Conclusions

WHC remained persistently high over the quarter century studied, with overemployment affecting nearly half of the nursing workforce. Overemployment, resulting primarily from overtime, was high among full-time nurses. Study findings could guide the formulation of programs to optimize German nursing workforce participation.