The mediating effect of personality on mental workload and perceived professional benefits of nurses in East China

Subjective mental workload profile and its relationship with quality of work life among nurses: The mediating role of general health

BACKGROUND

 Nursing is widely recognized as a high-stress profession that encompasses a variety of cognitive, emotional, and physical demands.

OBJECTIVE

 This study seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between subjective mental workload (SMWL), general health (GH), and quality of work life (QWL).

METHODS

 This descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional study examines the relationship between SMWL, GH, and QWL among nurses working in several public hospitals in Iran. The study involved 283 nurses, with data collected through self-administered questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. SMWL was assessed using the SURG-TLX questionnaire, QWL was evaluated with Walton's 35-item tool, and GH was measured using the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed for data analysis.

RESULTS

 The findings revealed a significant negative effect of SMWL on both GH (β = -0.283; p = 0.038) and QWL (β = -0.211; p = 0.041). In contrast, better GH was positively associated with higher QWL (β = 0.747; p < 0.001). GH was found to mediate the relationship between SMWL and QWL, explaining 43% of the total effect.

CONCLUSION

 These results highlight the importance of improving GH to enhance QWL and job satisfaction among nurses by alleviating the adverse effects of high SMWL. The study emphasizes the need for targeted interventions to boost GH, thereby creating a more supportive work environment. Future research should delve deeper into these dynamics through longitudinal studies to validate these findings over time.

Exploring the relationship between mental work load, work ability, and musculoskeletal disorders: A cross-sectional modeling study among health service workforces in Iran

INTRODUCTION

The health service workforces play a crucial role in shaping a nation's health system efficiency, making it vital to understand factors affecting their performance. This study examined the relationship between mental workload, work ability, and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among employees at comprehensive health service centers in Saveh, Arak province, Iran.

MATERIALS & METHODS

The cross-sectional study involved 197 randomly selected personnel whose WMSDs prevalence was evaluated using the Nordic questionnaire. Work ability was assessed through the Work Ability Index (WAI), and mental workload was measured using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). All data analysis was performed using SPSS v 24.0 software.

RESULTS

The average age and work experience of the participants were determined to be 35.74 ± 7.52 and 11.63 ± 8.59 years, respectively. The highest prevalence was reported in the lumbar region, with a lifetime prevalence of 63.5% and an annual prevalence of 60.9%. The average mental workload and work ability were calculated to be 63.24 ± 13.26 and 34.86 ± 7.61, respectively. The highest prevalence of WMSDs (89.5%) was observed in the lower back region among women aged 45-54 years. A significant relationship was identified between work experience and age with work ability and mental workload (P < 0/01). Furthermore, an increase of one point in work ability score leads to a decrease in WMSDs in the neck, wrists/hands, low back and hips/thighs regions by 13.5%, 8%, 11.5%, and 9%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The study underscores the need to enhance the physical, psychological, and social environments of health service employees. Implementing targeted educational programs can improve task performance and mitigate high mental workload effects, ultimately reducing WMSDs and improving staff well-being.

Professional benefits perception among pediatric nurses: a cross-sectional survey

Background

The perception of professional benefits is a critical determinant of job stability and work efficacy among healthcare professionals. This perception can directly influence patient care quality, nurse job satisfaction and retention, as well as overall organizational efficiency. The current understanding of how pediatric nurses perceive their professional benefits is limited. This study aimed to elucidate the status and determinants of professional benefit perception among pediatric nurses to inform evidence-based clinical care.

Methods

We conducted a survey of pediatric nurses at our hospital from September 1, 2024, to November 26, 2024. Participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. The Nurses' Professional benefit perception Scale was employed to assess professional benefit perception. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were utilized to identify factors influencing professional benefit perception. These statistical methods were chosen due to their suitability for examining relationships between continuous variables and for controlling potential confounding factors in the regression model.

Results

A total of 366 pediatric nurses participated in the study. The mean score of professional benefit perception was (108.26 ± 17.32). Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant positive associations between professional benefit perception scores and several demographic and professional variables. Specifically, age (r = 0.517), years of experience in pediatric nursing (r = 0.604), educational level (r = 0.564), professional title (r = 0.559), marital status (r = 0.623), and average monthly income (r = 0.647) were all significantly correlated with professional benefit perception scores. Further analysis using multiple linear regression identified these variables as significant predictors of professional benefit perception scores, collectively accounting for 57.20% of the variance (R² = 0.572). This indicates that a substantial portion of the variation in professional benefit perception can be explained by these demographic and professional factors.

Conclusion

The perceived level of professional benefits among pediatric nurses is found to be moderate. It is recommended that nursing administrators develop targeted intervention strategies based on the identified influencing factors. Such strategies may include enhancing professional development opportunities, improving financial compensation, and fostering a supportive work environment.

The effect of perceived professional benefits on health professionals' job engagement: the role of psychological availability and future perceived professional benefits

BACKGROUND

Improving the job engagement of health professionals can effectively enhance the quality of their medical services. However, few studies have investigated whether and how perceived professional benefits affect job engagement. Based on resource conservation theory, this study explored the effect of the influence of perceived professional benefits on job engagement, and also examined the mediating role of psychological availability and the moderating role of future perceived professional benefits.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in six tertiary hospitals and seven secondary hospitals in Liu Panshui, a city in western China. A total of 1,406 valid questionnaires were obtained and analysed by using correlation analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, and bootstrap tests.

RESULT

The study found a significant positive association between health professionals' perceived professional benefits and their job engagement. Additionally, psychological availability was found to mediate this relationship. Future perceived professional benefits not only positively moderate this relationship between perceived professional benefits on health professionals' psychological availability but also positively moderate the mediating role of psychological availability between perceived professional benefits and job engagement.

CONCLUSION

Improving health professionals' perceived professional benefits can enhance their job engagement by increasing their psychological availability. However, for health professionals with low future perceived professional benefits, this improvement may disappear. Therefore, it is important to enhance both their current and future perceived professional benefits to improve their job engagement.

Heterogeneity of work alienation and its relationship with job embeddedness among Chinese nurses: a cross-sectional study using latent profile analysis

OBJECTIVE

To identify the distinct profiles of work alienation among Chinese nurses, examine the demographic factors associated with profile memberships, and then explore the relationship between latent categories of work alienation and job embeddedness.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey of 523 nurses was conducted from July to August 2023. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was performed to identify distinct profiles of nurses based on three aspects: powerlessness, helplessness, and meaningfulness. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the predictors of profile membership. Hierarchical regression analysis was carried out to examine the association between profile memberships and job embeddedness.

RESULTS

Three subgroups of work alienation of nurses were identified: 23.1%, 57.8%, and 19.1% in the low work alienation group (profile 1), the moderate work alienation group (profile 3), and the high work alienation group (profile 2), respectively. Nurses with college degrees were more likely to be grouped into moderate work alienation. Nurses who did not work night shifts were more likely to have low or moderate levels of work alienation. Nurses earning 2,000-3,000 and 3,001-5,000 yuan per month were likely to be in the low work alienation group. The different categories of work alienation significantly predicted job embeddedness among nurses (ΔR2 = 0.103, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Work alienation has an important impact on clinical nurses' job embeddedness. Nursing managers should pay attention to the differences in individual work alienation status and adopt reasonable management strategies to improve the level of job embeddedness, ensure the quality of care, and reduce nursing turnover.