WORK LIFE BALANCE OF FEMALE PHYSICIANS WORKING IN SELECTED GOVERNMENTAL HOSPITALS IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA. PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

Since the beginning of creation, people have had to work hard to make ends meet for themselves and their families. The dramatic increase in the participation of women in the labor force is seen significantly in the recent decades. This increased engagement of women in work, with the added responsibility of home has brought to attention the issues of work-life balance. For many organizations, work life balance is a myth. Even if many organizations preach and endorse work life balance, the conflict of ever increasing work demand, pressures of deadline and the compounding requirements put serious challenge on the initiatives. Health Care Sector is an area of interest because it is an area where one has to work all the time, always vigilant and on toes. Shift work, especially night work, overtime and working on holidays places a lot of stress on the health care givers, which includes physicians and nurses both at professional and personal front. Improper work scheduling and long working hours tend to cause adverse effect on employee’s health and well-being. This study is a semi descriptive and semi exploratory type and focuses on the current practices and challenges of female physicians, working in six governmental hospitals under the authority of Addis Ababa Health bureau, in the process of balancing their work and family life. A census data was collected on 158 female medical doctors. Majority of the participants (85.7%)of them responded they spend 2-4 hrs a day on house hold activities every day after spending 9-10 hrs./day (68.98%) in their work duties in the hospital where 50% of the respondents believed they never got enough time after work for their family, the stress is further compounded by the six day/week (72.7%) work schedule .The impact of the long working hour requirement, limited number health professionals and inflexible working requirements on the WLB is seen when 85.5% of the respondents indicated that they feel tired and depressed at work, they missed a quality time with family and they even worry about work when they are not actually at work. The lack of written data from the health bureau and the hardship to put all the female physicians in the study because some of them were sent to their residency program was the limitation of the study.