Midwives’ occupational wellbeing and its determinants. A cross-sectional study among newly qualified and experienced Dutch midwives | 75 Figure 3. Socio-demographic characteristics, variables, scales and measurement instruments To measure work engagement, we used the short version of the Dutch translation of the UWES (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale).33 Work engagement is defined as a unique positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterised by vigour, dedication and absorption33 The UWES showed a high reliability and validity 33 The short version of the UWES consists of nine items. The answers were given using a 7-point Likert scale (0=never; 6=always). A total median score was calculated. Using the norm scores of the UWES, we considered a score of 4.67 or higher as high work engagement.33 Job demands and job resources were measured using the Dutch version of the QEEW 2.0 (Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work).34 The QEEW 2.0 has a high internal consistency.35 Job demand variables included subscales as mentioned in Figure 3. Question items were scored on a 4-point Likert-scale (always, often, sometimes, never),35 except for items in the subscales job security, financial rewards, learning resources and organisation of work, which were scored on a 5-point Likert scale (totally agree, agree, neutral, disagree, totally disagree). A score per subscale was obtained by adding the score of the items and dividing this by the maximum achievable score and then multiplying it by 100. This resulted in continuous scores per subscale that ranged from 0 to 100. A higher score is the result of the most negative answer to each question on the scale. In the case of only the most positive answers, the scale score will result in 0.
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