PROMOTING NURSE WELL-BEING AND PERFORMANCE: FACTORS AND SOLUTIONS FOR MANAGING PROLONGED WORKING HOURS IN A PRIVATE TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN TACLOBAN CITY, PHILIPPINES

The prevalence of prolonged working hours has emerged as a formidable predicament among nurses in private tertiary healthcare institutions across the Philippines, precipitated by chronic staffing deficits, escalating patient exigencies, and elevated attrition rates. This scholarly inquiry delves into the deleterious ramifications of extended labor hours on nurses’ physiological well-being, familial and social equilibrium, and occupational efficacy, underscoring the exigency for systemic reforms to augment nurse welfare and uphold the caliber of patient care. Employing descriptive research, the investigation encompassed a cohort of 150 nurses from a private tertiary hospital in Tacloban, meticulously selected through a simple random sampling technique. Methodological procedures involved the administration of a structured survey, with subsequent data analysis conducted via descriptive statistics and multiple regression models to elucidate the correlations between protracted working hours and pivotal outcome variables, namely, health deterioration, disruption of work-life symmetry, and diminution of professional performance. Empirical findings unveiled that disproportionate workloads, abrupt patient influxes, and erratic shift configurations substantially engendered elongated working durations. Nurses subjected to such prolonged engagements manifested exacerbated fatigue, stress-induced pathologies such as hypertension and peptic ulcers, and pronounced occupational burnout. Furthermore, their familial and social spheres suffered perturbation, as work-life discord culminated in relational dissatisfaction. Detriments to job performance were equally conspicuous, evidenced by amplified error frequencies, absenteeism, and pervasive occupational discontent. Mitigating this crisis mandates expeditious policy rectifications within hospital frameworks, including the institutionalization of malleable staffing structures, refined shift orchestration, and initiatives fostering work-life harmony.