Introduction:

Work activities are an important part of the scenario and the daily life of each individual, which is why people spend a large amount of time in those organizations where they work. However, risk factors may be present in the working environment, posing a health hazard for workers. Adverse working conditions and job insecurity at the health sector level have been evidenced, both for nursing professionals and doctors, marked by a high emotional and labor load.

Objective:

To analyze the working conditions of doctors and nurses in public hospitals in Chile.

Material and Method:

An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out with 375 doctors and nurses. A database was designed, where sociodemographic, labor, health self-perception and the Work Condition Scale were collected. Spearman’s rho and mean difference tests were used in the analysis.

Results:

Working conditions were perceived as good by nurses and regular by doctors. Nursing professionals presented significantly higher scores on the material environment, personal organization adjustment and personal organization adaptation dimensions scale than those of the doctors. In the social environment and method of development, higher scores were significantly presented by doctors. A tendency to increase the score of the working conditions was as well observed, as the perception of general health improves.

Conclusions:

Doctors and nurses have different perceptions of their own working conditions and dimensions. The self-perceived health of these professionals is also related to their working conditions.