Perceptions of registered nurses in the ambulance service in Sweden on their psychosocial work environment – A cross sectional study

• The psychosocial safety climate within the ambulance service in Sweden indicates a moderate risk for job strain and psychological distress. • Registered nurses working in the ambulance service experience high emotional demands and are exposed to threats of violence and actual violent situations. • Stress and burnout are low and registered nurses perceived their health as good. Registered nurses are challenged by many different situations in their work environment. The psychosocial work environment can affect the health and well-being of registered nurses, which in turn can affect the quality of service provided to patients. Registered nurses’ self-reported psychosocial work environment in the ambulance service is an important issue to improve their psychosocial work environment. To investigate and describe the self-reported psychosocial work environment of registered nurses in the ambulance service and to assess individual and work-related features of importance. The study has a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional design. A web-based survey questionnaire of registered nurses (n = 176) working in 42 different ambulance stations was analyzed with descriptive and inferential analysis. The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire and the Psychosocial Safety Climate Scale were used for data collection. The assessment of Occupational Safety and Health among registered nurses varied, with the majority perceiving it as fair. The psychosocial safety climate in the ambulance service indicates a moderate risk for job strain and psychological distress. Registered nurses experience high emotional demands and are exposed to the threat of violence. However, they find their work meaningful and experience strong support from colleagues and a high degree of variation in their work. The reported presence of stress and burnout is low and they generally perceive their health as good. The findings in this study revealed that registered nurses in Sweden generally perceive more resources than demands in their psychosocial work environment. To provide and maintain a positive psychosocial work environment, the ambulance service organization should place more focus on improving risk management and fostering a supportive social work environment. Further studies in this area are important to validate these findings.