Equilibrio tra lavoro e vita privata: uno studio qualitativo descrittivo sul vissuto degli infermieri Baby Boomer nelle terapie intensive.

Background: Maintaining a sustainable work–life balance is particularly challenging for nurses working in intensive care units, where shift work, emotional demands, high clinical responsibility, and continuous care requirements may affect recovery, personal life, and professional retention. These issues may become particularly relevant for Baby Boomer nurses during the later stages of their careers. Aim: This study aimed to examine how Baby Boomer nurses working in intensive care units perceive and manage shift work, the strategies they adopt to maintain their physical and psychological well-being, and the factors that influence job satisfaction and professional retention. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in the general and specialized intensive care units of a tertiary hospital in North-Eastern Italy. Six Baby Boomer nurses participated in semi-structured interviews conducted between March and April 2026. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed through inductive thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke’s six-phase approach. Results: The analysis identified two main themes, seven subthemes, and twenty codes. The first theme “The aging body negotiating shift work and personal time” described shift work as both a resource and a burden, highlighting slower recovery, fatigue associated with night work, reduced social participation, and the use of personal boundaries, sports, and leisure activities to restore well-being. The second theme “The professional self between emotional residue, meaning, and organizational erosion” showed that professional identity remained strongly supported by clinical competence, relational care, responsibility, and attachment to the intensive care setting. However, participants also reported persistent emotional burden, organizational difficulties, limited recognition of accumulated expertise, and challenges related to mentoring younger colleagues. Conclusions: The sustainability of late-career intensive care nursing depends on the interaction between aging, cumulative exposure to shift work, professional meaning, emotional demands, and organizational conditions. Age-management strategies, flexible scheduling, formal recognition of professional experience, structured intergenerational knowledge transfer, and accessible emotional support may contribute to preserving well-being, motivation, and professional retention among experienced nurses.