Those in nurse manager jobs at crowded hospitals should pay special attention to their staff's morale, as a new study suggests that nurses working in wards packed to capacity are more likely to experience depression.

Published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the study from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki found that health professionals in institutions operating at capacity or near-capacity levels were twice as likely to take sick leave for depression than their colleagues in quieter institutions.

The Nursing Times reports that the lead researcher, Dr Marianna Virtanen, says that the findings don't prove a direct link between overcrowding and mental health problems among staff. However she says that the findings indicate that the heavy workloads related to maximum bed occupancy levels are likely a factor.

The study correlated bed-occupancy rates at 16 different hospitals with the sick leave data from the same institutions. It took into account factors such as worker's age and their area of medical speciality.

Dr. Virtanen has suggested that working guidelines should be reviewed in light of her findings. "Good practice could be to keep the bed occupancy levels at a reasonable level," she suggested.