This page in Swedish

Research projects

Healthy and sustainable work environment for nurses in Swedish health and medical care

About this project

Project information

Project status

In progress

Contact

Johanna Gustafsson

Research subject

The purpose of this project is to investigate what constitutes a healthy and sustainable work environment for nurses in Swedish healthcare. The project's focus is on "health factors", rather than what constitutes risk factors for ill-health, based on a need to gain in-depth knowledge of what creates health and well-being in the workplace.

The project is designed according to a sequential exploratory design with five phases. In the first phase of the project, group interviews are conducted with nurses, where the purpose is to investigate nurses' experiences of what constitutes significant health factors in their work environment. Data from these interviews are used to develop a questionnaire that aims to investigate which health and risk factors are associated with nurses' experience of a healthy and sustainable working life. In the project's second phase, a survey is developed that is based on questions from relevant interviews, scientific literature and from validated instruments in the field. The survey is sent to all clinically active primary and specialist nurses within the regions of Värmland, Östergötland and Örebro, as well as the larger municipalities within each region. In the third phase, an individual interview study with nurses is carried out, which will build on the previous sub-studies and aims to explore which factors nurses experience as significant health factors in their work situation, and how and why they affect their health and well-being. In the project's fourth and fifth phases, follow-up surveys are carried out after two and four years, respectively. Through these studies, the project will provide new knowledge about what constitutes a healthy and sustainable work environment for nurses and result in a conceptual model of health factors in the working life of nurses in Swedish healthcare. In the quantitative studies, risk and health factors will also be examined from a gender perspective.

Welcome to contact us via This is an email address

Research funding bodies

  • AFA Insurance