This transversal and descriptive study aimed at evaluating the life quality of nursing professionals working at a surgical ward, using the Index of Work Satisfaction. Study participants were 105 workers; most of them women (82.9%), with an average age of 38. In this group, 69.5% were nursing auxiliaries and 11.4% were nurses. As to quality of life at work, scores varied between 114 and 227 (possible range of 44 to 308), with an average score of 169.7±25.9. The average score for the 44 items was 3.85, showing that workers were either dissatisfied or neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the aspects mentioned in the instrument on quality of life at work. Satisfaction levels were lowest for remuneration and highest for the professional status domain. Authors found the instrument reliable for the study population, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.81.
quality of life; job satisfaction; perioperative nursing
