Kontakt X:X | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2026.007

The position of social workers within the Slovak healthcare system in relation to overwork and coping with stressful situationsSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Martina Mojtová ORCID...*, Elena Gažiková ORCID..., Ján Gabura
Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Faculty of Social Sciences and Health Care, Nitra, Slovak Republic

Aim: Determine the perception of the position of social workers in Slovak healthcare in relation to overwork and coping with stressful situations.

Methods: This research study has a quantitative design with the use of a self-made questionnaire. The research sample consists of 59 social workers working in various healthcare facilities in the Slovak Republic.

Results: The results show that the vast majority of respondents agree with codifying the legal status for social workers in healthcare into law. The results also point to the work overload of social workers in healthcare and statistically don't significantly differ with respect to their years of experience, work in the public or non-governmental sector and the number of patients in their care.

Conclusion: The results point to the need for systematic changes in practice and improvements in the status of social workers in healthcare, which would increase the quality of patient care. An important measure is the creation of a high-quality legislative framework for social workers in healthcare, specifying their competences in outpatient, institutional, and field care.

Keywords: Coping with stressful situations; Legislation; Social work in healthcare; Stress
Grants and funding:

This paper was written as part of the project VEGA No. 1/0254/23: Possibilities for creating the profession of clinical social worker in the Slovak Republic.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: October 31, 2025; Revised: December 8, 2025; Accepted: January 26, 2026; Prepublished online: January 27, 2026 

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