[Organizational analysis of hospital work: identification of constraint elements and hypothesis of their relationship with nurses' wellbeing]

The paper reports the results of a research project on hospital work in which the analysis of organized work situations in different contexts was made using a method based on a valid organizational theory, with the objective of an ergonomic study on the relationships between organized work and well-being. From the analysis of these different situations, via the application of the Method of Organizational Congruencies, the greatest individual level of danger for well-being was constantly observed in nurses, not only as regards the traditional risks of exposure to physical or biological agents, but also the psychophysical aspecific discomfort related, particularly, both to imposition and to uncertainty in the coordination and control of technical actions and in the coordination and control of individuals. The use of an instrument of organizational analysis and the contribution of specific disciplinary approaches (the theory on stress by H. Selye and the theory on communication by G. Bateson), satisfied the needs of suggesting and understanding the relationships between organization choices and well-being of nurses, with the aim of reducing the conditions of danger for well-being related to organization choices.