The experiences of divorced professional nurses in the workplace

Abstract

Considerable research has been done on the impact of divorce on married persons, their children and families but little has been done on its impact on professional nurses work performance. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of divorced female professional nurses at East London Hospital Complex with regard to their experiences at the work place. Using a qualitative research design, female professional nurses, aged 42-61 years who had been divorced for 5-11 years, participated in the in-depth interviews lasting 45-60 minutes. Interviews were audio taped and analysed using Tesch’s steps for analysing  qualitative data. All participants described divorce as having negative impacts on their work performance and this has implications for employee workplace wellness programmes. Inclusion of psychological counselling and increased employee awareness of available specialised support  programmes are recommended. Such programmes should be marketed and delivered in ways that do not further add to the shame, isolation and negative feelings that divorced nurse’s experience.

Keywords: Divorce, professional nurse, work performance, psychological impact and care.