J Korean Acad Nurs Adm.  2012 Mar;18(1):87-95.

Nurses' Work-family Balance: The Gender Perspectives

• Kim M

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was conducted to explore the perspectives of gender and role in the family for nurses' work-family balance. METHOD: Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 14 married nurses having children, who were selected through convenience sampling and purposive sampling from November 1, 2011 to January 20, 2012. The data were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis.
RESULTS
The common themes resulted from data analysis included following traditional gender roles, giving up any expectation of spouse's role, coordinating the division of family roles, and refusing to stick to gender roles. The age of nurse, family background of husband, and social-economic contexts were essential to explain the couple dynamics.
CONCLUSIONS
Nurses who received private family support were stably leading a work-family balance, yet unable to change the gender structure of spouse for the work-family balance. On the other hand, young nurses who were unable to get any support, had a tendency of cooperating with their spouses and adopting more negotiable and pragmatic approach to work-family balance.

Keyword

Family; Gender; Nurses; Work

MeSH Terms

Child
Gender Identity
Hand
Humans
Spouses
Statistics as Topic

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