Balancing the scales—Nurses’ attempts at meeting family and employer needs in a work-intensified environment

Aims: This paper describes findings from a survey conducted in New Zealand exploring nurses’ decision-making about when to delay care, delegate care, hand care over or leave care undone. Unanticipated findings identified processes that nurses go through when deciding to take planned/unplanned leave when wards are constrained through budget limitations. Background: Missed/rationed care is increasingly the focus of attention in international studies, identifying a complex interplay of organisational, professional and personal factors affecting nurses’ decision-making when faced with limited organisational time, human and material resources to provide care. Methods: The survey presented nurses with Likert-scale questions with option for free text comments. This paper reports on the commentaries about work–life balance. Results: Nurses described workload pressures that lead to rationing care affected them, and the long-term effect on them as individuals. Nurses verbalized the difficulties and associated guilt about taking leaving and sick leave when wards were short staffed. Conclusions: Nurses consider how their absence will affect the workspace and their home first, considering the impact on themselves last. Implications: The findings may provide valuable insights for nurse managers in relation to workforce allocations and resources where acknowledgement of work–life balance is considered. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd