Influence of selected sociodemographic factors on psychosocial workload of nurses and association of this burden with absenteeism at work

What are the predictors and costs of nurse absenteeism at select multicenter government hospitals? A cross-sectional study

Objectives

The purposes of this study were to determine the prevalence and cost of absenteeism in nurses as well as the factors that affect absenteeism.

Methods

This is a cross sectional study where a self-administered questionnaire response were obtained from 442 nurses for the previous working in 4 hospitals and 3 primary health care centers in Saudi Arabia. Analyses compared those with zero absences with those with one or more absences per month. Attributable risk was calculated as the difference in the absence percentages among nurses with high-risk exposure and low risk exposure.

Results

The average absence of nurses is 0.62 days per month. This results in an annual loss of around $4 million. The greatest absence frequency was significantly associated with work psychosocial factors. The modifiable factors included the clarity of work responsibilities, rating of managers, work facilities, work environment, transportation difficulties, and work satisfaction. Cost-effectiveness modules for absence intervention programs were built for these factors.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that nurse absenteeism is a costly issue related to work and psychosocial factors. Preventive programs to improve the quality of work life are likely to be cost effective.

Sense of coherence and strategies for coping with stress among nurses

BACKGROUND

The nursing profession is associated with constant presence of difficult situations and stress, which arise from responsibility for the highest values - human life and health. With demographic changes in the society, the demand for nursing care increases. Looking after the health of nursing staff becomes a non-material investment in employees. One of the most important health potentials described in literature is the sense of coherence. It can significantly contribute to maintaining good health, modify one's functioning in a stressful working environment and influence the choice of strategies for coping with stress.

AIM

The aim of the study was to describe the specific relationship between the sense of coherence and strategies for coping with stress in a group of professionally active nurses.

METHODOLOGY AND METHODS

The study involved 91 nurses in central Poland, aged 22-52. The group was diversified in terms of: education, work system, marital status and place of residence. The study was conducted with the use of: Sense of Coherence Questionnaire SOC-29 and Inventory to Measure Coping Strategies with Stress - Mini-COPE. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of scientific research set out in the Helsinki Declaration.

RESULTS

The sense of coherence value in the test group was M = 134.24 (SD = 19.55). In stressful situations nurses most often used active strategies to cope with stress: Planning M = 2.10 (SD = 0.54), Seeking Emotional Social Support M = 1.95 (SD = 0.68) and Seeking Instrumental Social Support M = 1.95 (SD = 0.69), and the least frequently: Alcohol/Drug Use M = 0.28 (SD = 0.48). The level of the sense of coherence and its components differentiated the strategies of coping with stress used in the examined group of nurses.

CONCLUSIONS

The research confirmed that the sense of coherence serves as a health potential in a stressful working environment - a high sense of coherence translate into better mental health, correct functioning in the working environment, and using adaptive strategies of coping with stress. Nurses with a stronger sense of coherence used more adaptive strategies to deal with stress than those with average or low levels.

Effect of nurses' perception to workplace civility climate on nurse-physician collaboration

AIMS

To assess the effect of nurses' perception to workplace civility climate on nurse-physician collaboration and determine whether the largest contributor to changing the climate of the workplace are the employees or top management.

DESIGN

This study used non-experimental descriptive cross-sectional study design, which using purposive sample (139 nurses) working at Health Insurance Hospital.

METHOD

The current study data were collected by using self-administered questionnaires including three tools: (a) a structured interview questionnaire includes personal data; (b) perceived workplace civility climate scale (15 items); and (c) Nurse Physician Collaboration Scale (27 items).

RESULTS

Main result of this study reveals that there was a positive statistically significant correlation between workplace civility climate and collaboration (0.208* ). Studied nurses were perceived top management with the high score (87.5) than employees (65.2).

CONCLUSION

Workplace civility climate was demanded for well collaboration between nurses and physicians to provide high-quality services; when nurses and physicians have increase chance to work in civility climate, combining with response to incivility and low intolerance for it, they will be more collaborated.

RECOMMENDATION

Policies and procedures are very important in healthcare settings to address uncivil actions and establish a civilized climate.

Risky Behaviour among Nurses in Poland: An Analysis of Nurses' Physical Condition, Mental Health, and Resilience

Background: Nursing is a profession where staff are exposed to chronic stress. Mental resilience plays a significant role in the process of coping with these challenges. The aim of this study was to assess nurses' mental and physical wellbeing, as well as resilience, by taking into account the occurrence of risky behaviour among nurses in Poland. Methods: A descriptive study was carried out between June 2017 and May 2018 among nurses (n = 1080) employed in primary healthcare or in training centres in Silesia, Poland. Data were obtained from a number of questionnaires. Results: Over half of the nurses (n = 735; 68%) had an average psychophysical mood level resulting from stress, and 179 (16.6%) nurses had a low psychophysical mood. Those with a lower psychophysical mood showed a greater tendency towards developing improper eating habits (r = -0.23; p < 0.001). Most nurses had an average (n = 649; 60.1%) or low (n = 255; 23.6%) level of resilience. Higher resilience levels were observed in nurses aged over 30 years (p = 0.004) and in those with additional employment (p = 0.008). High resilience was associated with a lower intensity of risky behaviour. Conclusion: Most nurses in Poland display average and low levels of resilience, which can have unfavourable consequences for their health.

Analysis of Real-World Implementation of the Biopsychosocial Approach to Healthcare: Evidence From a Combination of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Aims: The modern medical model has been transformed into a biopsychosocial model. The integration of the biopsychosocial approach in healthcare can help improve the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment. This study explored the actual application of the biopsychosocial approach in healthcare and provides a basis for targeted interventions to promote the biopsychosocial approach in healthcare. Methods: Study 1 involved one-on-one interviews with 30 medical staff and focus group interviews with 16 recent patients. Study 2 was a cross-sectional survey of 13,105 medical staff in Hangzhou, China that analyzed the status quo implementation of the biopsychosocial approach in healthcare. Results: Study 1 found that medical staff did not welcome patients to report information unrelated to their disease, hoping patients did not express their emotions. In the treatment process, patients believed that medical staff refused to attend to or did not encourage reporting of any information other than the disease, and that patients should have reasonable expectations for medical staff. Study 2 found that medical staff had a 37.5% probability of actively paying attention to the patient's psychosocial status. Female medical staff (38.5%) were actively concerned about the patient's psychosocial status significantly more than male medical staff (34.2%) (P < 0.01). The medical staff in the psychiatric department (58.4%) paid more active attention to the patient's psychosocial status than staff in the non-psychiatric departments (37.2%). Gender, department, hospital level, and professional title were the factors associated with the medical staff's attention to the patient's psychosocial status (P < 0.05). The influence of age on the probability of medical staff actively paying attention to the psychosocial status of patients increased with the number of years of employment. Participants that were 31-40 years old, had an intermediate professional title, and 11-15 years of employment were the least likely to actively pay attention to patients' psychosocial status. Conclusion: Although the biopsychosocial approach has been popularized for many years, it has not been widely used in medical care. Medical staff pay more attention to patients' physical symptoms and less attention to patients' psychosocial status. It is recommended that training will be provided to medical personnel on implementing a biopsychosocial approach with particular attention to the sociodemographic characteristics of medical personnel. Additionally, we propose helping patients set reasonable expectations, and formulating guidelines for implementing the biopsychosocial approach.

Self-Identity and Career Success of Nurses in Infectious Disease Department: The Chain-Mediating Effects of Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Social Support

There has been some research conducted regarding nurses’ career success aimed at exploring its influencing factors, but there is no research on the mechanism of self-identity on the career success of infection control nurses. In order to further explore the formation mechanism of career success of nurses, we conducted our study using the Kaleidoscope Career Model to explore the chain-mediating effects of cognitive emotion regulation and social support between self-identity and career success. Five hundred forty-seven infection control nurses from nine different hospitals participated in the study and completed questionnaires on the self-identity, cognitive emotion regulation, social support, and career success scales. The results from structural equation modeling reveal that self-identity has a positive effect on positive emotion regulation and social support and a negative impact on negative emotion regulation. Positive (negative) emotion regulation has a positive (negative) effect on social support. All antecedents have a positive impact on career success except negative emotion regulation, which has a negative one. Bootstrap analysis shows that the relationship between self-identity and career success is partially mediated by the chain of cognitive emotion regulation and social support. Overall, our research sheds light on the mechanism of self-identity on career success of nurses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Quality of Life of Patients with Arterial Hypertension

Symptoms of hypertension with accompanying complications result in a significant reduction in patients' quality of life. Effective conduct of prescribed pharmacotherapy supported by a healthy lifestyle allows to achieve satisfactory effects of treatment, which translates into an improvement in the quality of life of patients. The aim of the work was to determine the quality of life of patients with hypertension and the factors affecting it. The study included 100 people with hypertension, who are patients of the department of internal diseases of the hospital in Hajnówka during the period 1.6.2019-1.12.2019. The questionnaire survey, the standardized WHO Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF scale and the Barthel scale were the research tools. The probability p < 0.05 was assumed as the level of statistical significance. The study group consisted of subjects between 30-89 years old. The majority were men and those living in the city. The average BMI (body mass index) of the subjects was 28.4 kg/m². The duration of the disease among those surveyed was on average 7 ± 6.34 years. The highest-rated area of quality of life was the physical field and the lowest social sphere according to the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Patients with hypertension have determined their quality of life at a good or medium level in the physical, psychological, social, and environmental sphere. There are many factors that improve quality of life in all areas. These include following the recommendations on modifiable risk factors.

Factors Associated With Job Satisfaction of Frontline Medical Staff Fighting Against COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study in China

Purpose: The current research on frontline medical staff in China fighting against COVID-19 has not yet addressed job satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to investigate the job satisfaction of those who were sent to support Hubei province, China, or worked in local designated hospitals, and then analyze the associated influencing factors.

Materials and Methods: A total of 455 medical staff who worked at the frontline of the prevention and control of COVID-19 in Hubei province was selected using simple random sampling. They were asked to fill out a self-developed general information questionnaire as well as the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), from 10 January to 10 March 2020.

Results: The average job satisfaction score of the participants was 82.58 ± 11.11. The influencing factors include education (P = 0.002), years of work experience (P = 0.006), anti-epidemic work duration (P = 0.048), daily sleep duration (P < 0.001), and the form of participation (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: This study, for the first time, measures the job satisfaction of frontline medical staff in fighting against COVID-19 in China. The job satisfaction of frontline medical staff was at a “relatively decent” level, higher than the previous similar measures among medical staff. Related management departments should further improve the job satisfaction of frontline medical staff by meeting their reasonable demands, strengthening the emergency response and practical operation training of junior staff, and ensuring their ample time for sleep and rest. This study is of great reference value for improving the job satisfaction level of frontline medical staff during public health emergencies, developing medical staff security policies, and promoting the establishment of emergency response teams.

Fatores associados ao absenteísmo-doença de trabalhadores da saúde: revisão de escopo

Objetivo: identificar os fatores associados ao absenteísmo-doença de trabalhadores da saúde.Síntese de conteúdo: esta revisão de escopo da literatura realizada nas bases de dados Medline via PubMed incluiu 106 estudos, que totalizaram 388.381 profissionais de saúde. Foi identificado que os fatores individuais e interpessoais, relacionados ao cargo e à função, assim como os fatores ambientais e organizacionais influenciam a ocorrência do absenteísmo-doença no ambiente hospitalar.Conclusões: os fatores individuais e interpessoais, relacionados ao cargo e à função, assim como os fatores ambientais e organizacionais influenciam no absenteísmo-doença dos trabalhadores da saúde, com impacto tanto sobre a produtividade quanto sobre a continuidade da assistência prestada por esses profissionais. A ausência não programada destes leva à necessidade de contratação de outros servidores ou ao pagamento de horas excedentes para atender à demanda, o que pode agravar a situação econômica e financeira do sistema de saúde, e afetar diretamente a saúde de toda a população que depende desse sistema.

Psychosocial Work-Related Hazards and Their Relationship to the Quality of Life of Nurses-a Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Nursing requires a commitment to work and care for the well-being of the patient, which is a great mental and physical burden for the nurse. As a result of exposure to adverse psychosocial work conditions and experiencing the resulting work-related stress, the problem of burnout is becoming more common. The aim of the study was to assess the psychosocial work conditions and their relationship to quality of life in the studied group of nurses.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out on 523 randomly selected professionally active registered nurses. The study was based on a diagnostic survey using standardized psychometric questionnaires: The Psychosocial Working Conditions Questionnaire and the quality of life WHOQOL-Bref.

RESULTS

Respondents with a better education assessed the level of demands at work to be higher (p = 0.000); however, they were also more satisfied in the well-being category (p = 0.020). Shift work was associated with a worse perception of psychosocial work conditions in almost all considered domains. The strongest correlations were between the scale of well-being and the assessment of quality of life in the somatic and psychological domains.

CONCLUSION

Nurses doing shift work assessed working conditions as being worse in all domains. They felt the mental and physical burden the most. Psychosocial work conditions were assessed to be better by nurses working in management positions. The strongest correlations were between the scale of well-being and the assessment of quality of life in the somatic and psychological domains.