“A matter of giving”: Gender inequalities and psychosocial risk factors in nursing jobs

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between gender and psychosocial risk factors in the nursing sector, considering the process of feminization and precarization of the workforce. It is a descriptive study with qualitative methodology based on the analysis of secondary sources and twenty interviews with nursing professionals who work on health organizations in the city of Buenos Aires. Findings show that the social assignment of care tasks to women results in double journey as a psychosocial risk factor that specifically affects the female gender.Work overload is another psychosocial risk caused by multiple hours and low wages, common denominators in nursing.The conclusion is that the state, company owners, and trade unions play a fundamental role in order to change the conditions of women´s vulnerability in their workplaces.