The goal of the study was to compare working conditions in a hospital with the conditions in a specialized hospital-based home care (HBHC) unit, which aims to replace hospital care for patients in need of institutional car. Staff (doctors included) in a HBHC unit (n = 35) and on three hospital wards (n = 113) participated in the study. All staff members worked regularly with severely ill cancer patients. Question about stress, job satisfaction and working conditions were asked in a self-administered questionnaire. Both groups showed a limited degree of continuous stress and a high degree of job satisfaction. Thus, the overall perception was than the working conditions were good. When significant differences were found, the responses of the HBHC staff were more positive. This included items such as more freedom to make their own decisions (P