Perceived health, perceived social support and professional quality of life in hospital emergency nurses

[Impact of care for victims of gender violence on the health professionals]

Professionals who work with women victims of gender violence face difficult emotional situations, and it is important to be aware of the emotions and feelings that the attitudes and behaviour of victims and aggressors generate in them. These emotions can become barriers to communication and seriously affect the professional's relationship with victims. Furthermore, they can generate situations of sustained stress, lead to emotional exhaustion, and affect their health, life, and work performance. We describe the consequences, risk factors and warning signs, as well as protective or resilience factors, that are important to know, and we list the current challenges and some recommendations for professionals and management in order to help prevent such effects and improve professional performance without health risks.

Exploring Emotional Well-Being and Support of Midwives Who Provide Termination of Pregnancy Care: An International Survey

AIMS

Assess the psychological impact that providing TOP care beyond 12 weeks gestation has on midwives in Australia and New Zealand, improve understanding of TOP care and explore what support midwives have and what they might need to deal with their work experiences.

DESIGN

Online survey.

METHODS

A web-based, self-reported questionnaire with a total of 63 questions collected data from June to October 2022. Two validated psychometric tools were included to assess emotional well-being. Numerical data were analysed using descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages and means. The STROBE guideline was used for reporting.

RESULTS

Most midwives felt unsupported and affected by their experiences of providing termination of pregnancy care. Recognition and regular post-care debriefing with management were minimal. Lack of staff impacted the ability to provide individualised care. Mental health support was not commonly offered to midwives. Psychometric tools showed burnout and high levels of compassion fatigue, but also compassion satisfaction. To feel supported midwives need a fully staffed workforce, the ability to provide one-on-one care, recognition from managers and team support.

CONCLUSION

Midwives who deliver termination of pregnancy care are unsupported and at high risk of burnout and compassion fatigue. Providing appropriate support is vital to increase midwives' well-being and sustain women's access to safe, high-quality care.

IMPACT

Study addresses a knowledge gap about midwives' support needs when caring for women undergoing termination of pregnancy beyond 12 weeks. Findings show the urgent need to recruit and retain midwifery staff, acknowledge the mental health risks of termination of pregnancy care and implement mental health strategies for midwives. Research benefits midwives who provide termination of pregnancy care, midwife managers, healthcare organisations and professional bodies.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

No patient or public involvement.

Risk perception and quality of working life of nurses in infectious disease department in China: The chain-mediating effects of psychological resilience and social support

AIM

To determine whether social support and psychological resiliency are significant mediators of the associations between risk perception and quality of working life in Chinese nurses working with infectious diseases.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey of 879 nurses in infectious diseases department of specialty or general hospitals in China completed online questionnaires on the nurses' risk perception questionnaire, quality of working life, psychological resilience and the social support rating scale.

RESULTS

Our study observed that risk perception directly negatively influences the quality of working life of infectious disease nurses, while psychological resilience and social support positively chain mediate this relationship.

CONCLUSION

Critical elements impacting the quality of working life of infectious disease nurses are risk perception, psychological resilience and social support. Managers may think about decreasing the level of risk perception and enhancing the quality of working life of infectious disease nurses by enhancing their psychological resilience and providing support.

PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

The quality of working life of infectious disease nurses should be a priority for nursing management; it is critical to maintain their health and well-being, raise the quality of care and lower turnover. Managers should create resilience-building programmes and support tools to assist nurses properly perceive risks and adopt protective strategies to deal with them to improve the quality of working life for nurses.

Perceived social support and professional quality of life of health professionals during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the perceived social support and professional quality of life (ProQOL) among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, encompassing both positive (compassion satisfaction) and negative (compassion fatigue) dimensions as well as the factors associated with them.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional web-based study.

SETTING

Nepal PARTICIPANTS: We carried out a convenience sampling technique to enrol 313 health professionals aged 18-60 years old.

OUTCOME MEASURES

We employed the ProQOL V.5 questionnaire (comparing 30 self-report items) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support with 12 items to assess the ProQOL and social support, respectively. A χ2 test was performed to determine associated factors of different dimensions of ProQOL.

RESULTS

The study included a total of 313 participants, mostly consisting of frontline health workers. More than one-third of the participants worked in places where precautionary measures were insufficient. However, the majority of them (73.8%) had high social support. Concerning the ProQOL, the percentage of health professionals that had moderate compassion satisfaction (CS), moderate Burnout (BO) and moderate secondary traumatic stress (STS) were 57.5%, 58.2% and 75.4%, respectively. Factors like sex, marital status, profession, work-shift, type of health institution and status of precautionary measures at the workplace were associated with the different dimensions of ProQOL at the significance level of 0.05.

CONCLUSION

This study findings revealed a considerable proportion of BO and STS among health professionals during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. Implementation of appropriate interventions and support systems are needed to enhance CS, alleviate BO and mitigate STS among health professionals to combat future health emergencies.

Prevalence and associated factors of secondary traumatic stress in emergency nurses: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Nurses in emergency departments are at a high risk of experiencing secondary traumatic stress because of their frequent exposure to trauma patients and high-stress environments.Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the overall prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among emergency nurses and to identify the contributing factors.Method: We conducted a systematic search for cross-sectional studies in databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, Wanfang Database, and China National Knowledge Internet up to October 21, 2023. The Joanna Briggs Institute's appraisal checklists for prevalence and analytical cross-sectional studies were used for quality assessment. Heterogeneity among studies was assessed using Cochrane's Q test and the I2 statistic. A random effects model was applied to estimate the pooled prevalence of secondary traumatic stress, and subgroup analyses were performed to explore sources of heterogeneity. Descriptive analysis summarized the associated factors.Results: Out of 345 articles retrieved, 14 met the inclusion criteria, with 11 reporting secondary traumatic stress prevalence. The pooled prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among emergency nurses was 65% (95% CI: 58%-73%). Subgroup analyses indicated the highest prevalence in Asia (74%, 95% CI: 72%-77%), followed by North America (59%, 95% CI: 49%-72%) and Europe (53%, 95% CI: 29%-95%). Nine studies identified associated factors, including personal, work-related, and social factors. In the subgroup of divided by recruitment period, emergency department nurses in the COVID-19 outbreak period had a higher prevalence of secondary traumatic stress (70%, 95% CI: 62%-78%).Conclusions: Secondary traumatic stress prevalence is notably high among emergency department nurses, with significant regional variations and period differences. The factors affecting secondary traumatic stress also varied across studies. Future research should focus on improving research designs and sample sizes to pinpoint risk factors and develop prevention strategies.Registration: PROSPERO CRD42022301167.

The associations among nurse work engagement, job satisfaction, quality of care, and intent to leave: A national survey in the United States

Objectives

Employee work engagement, job satisfaction, quality of care, and intent to leave are critical indicators for healthcare organizational performance. This study aimed to analyze the current state of nurses' work engagement and its factors to examine the associations among nurses' work engagement, job satisfaction, quality of care, and intent to leave in the United States (US).

Methods

This is a quantitative descriptive cross-section design. Data were collected online from the US registered nurses from March to September 2022. Measures comprised the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the demographics, and questions regarding job satisfaction, perceived quality of care, and intent to leave.

Results

Nine hundred nurses participated in the online survey. Among the participants, 79.2% reported holding a specialty certification, 59.4% scored high/very high on job satisfaction, 82.2% expressed high/very high on the perceived quality of nursing care, and 28.4% conveyed likely/very likely to leave in the following year. Nurses' work engagement was positively associated with nurses' job satisfaction and their perceived quality of care but negatively associated with intent to leave. More certified nurses reported high or very high job satisfaction than non-certified nurses. As for demographics, the linear regression analysis showed that nurses who were older, identified as White, and held doctorate degrees reported higher levels of work engagement in comparison to their counterparts.

Conclusions

This study shows that nurses' work engagement is associated with their job satisfaction, perceived quality of care, and intent to leave. Nurses' work engagement in this study is lower than in other studies, especially before the COVID-19 pandemic, which may indicate a possible association with the COVID-19 impact. Because nurses' work engagement is significantly associated with job satisfaction, nurse leaders need to find ways to promote nurses' job satisfaction and retention.

Workplace Wellbeing and Quality of Life Perceived by Portuguese Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Protective Factors and Stressors

During the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses were exposed to many stressors, which may have been associated with some mental health problems. However, most of the studies carried out on nurses' quality of life and workplace wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic took a pathogenic approach. Given that current scientific knowledge in this field presented too many gaps to properly inform preventive and therapeutic action, the aim of this study was to explore whether protective factors (resilience, perceived social support, and professional identification) and stressors (perceived stress and psychosocial risks in the workplace) influenced the quality of life and workplace wellbeing perceived by Portuguese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data for this cross-sectional study was collected through online self-administered questionnaires. Linear regression models were used to analyze the relationships between variables. Results showed that perceived stress, resilience and job satisfaction were associated with quality of life and workplace wellbeing among Portuguese nurses. The study's findings could serve to inform health policy and should draw the attention of nursing managers to the needs and difficulties reported by nurses, to the importance of providing them with emotional support, and to the relevance of promoting a good work environment.

Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Production on Compassion Fatigue

Background: Compassion fatigue is a common phenomenon among healthcare professionals and includes several concepts that share a direct relationship with quality of life, with consequences on both physical and emotional well-being but also at the economic and organizational levels. Objectives: To analyze the profile of scientific publications on compassion fatigue, dissecting trends, and highlighting research opportunities. Method: Bibliometric analysis based on Donthu’s guidelines, data collection from Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics), and analytic techniques (performance analysis and science mapping) with VOSviewer^® and CiteSpace^®. Results: We obtained 1364 articles and found that the concept emerged in 1995 and is frequently associated with areas of general health. Through analysis, we identified the following research frontiers: “vicarious traumatization”, “working”, “survivor”, “mental health”, and “impact”. Conclusion: There has been a growing interest in this subject among researchers, with an increase in scientific production related to areas of health such as nursing, providing a solid starting point for further investigation. Registration number from the Open Science Framework: osf.io/b3du8.

Compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among Chinese midwives working in the delivery room: A cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Compassion fatigue can negatively affect not only healthcare professionals' physical and mental health but also the quality of care they provide and organizational outcomes. However, little is known about compassion fatigue among Chinese midwives working in the delivery room. This study aimed to examine compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction levels among Chinese midwives working in the delivery room and correlate their compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction.

METHODS

A multisite cross-sectional study with a convenience sampling approach was conducted at 62 hospitals in Henan Province, central China, from May to July 2020. The participants were recruited through an online survey. A self-designed sociodemographic and work-related data sheet, the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQoL) were used to measure the participants'basic information, level of social support, compassion fatigue(consists of burnout and secondary traumatic stress) and compassion satisfaction. Descriptive analysis was used to describe the characteristics of the participants' social support, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. Multiple linear regression analysis was employed to identify associations with the participants' sociodemographic and professional characteristics, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction.

RESULTS

A total of 213 questionnaires were completed, 206 of which were valid (96.71%). The majority of the participants reported moderate risks for compassion satisfaction (75.24%) and burnout (59.71%) and low risks for secondary traumatic stress (61.65%). Higher job satisfaction as a midwife, lower average working hours per week in the past year, higher social support, extroverted personality, and work recognition in the past month were positively associated with compassion satisfaction, explaining 48.7% of the total variance. Always considering giving up a midwifery career, lower social support, working a day-night shift, poor health condition, more exposure to traumatic birth events per month on average in recent years, and lower job satisfaction as a midwife were negative factors for burnout, explaining 35.3% of the total variance. Four factors, including more exposure to traumatic birth events per month on average in recent years, always considering giving up a midwifery career, working a day-night shift and poor sleep quality, were negatively related to secondary traumatic stress, explaining 14.2% of the variance.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, midwives showed moderate levels of compassion satisfaction and burnout and low levels of secondary traumatic stress which should attract the attention of health institutions. A healthy and supportive work environment is crucial to midwives' health, well-being and job satisfaction. Tailored strategies such as trauma management, emotional literacy, peer and social support networks should be implemented to support midwives' compassion satisfaction, while prevent and lower midwives' burnout and secondary traumatic stress.

Compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among Chinese palliative care nurses: A province-wide cross-sectional survey

AIMS

We aim to explore the prevalence and potential facilitators and inhibitors of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among Chinese palliative care nurses.

BACKGROUND

Nurses with compassion fatigue may suffer from health-related problems, causing decreased work efficiency and quality of care. Palliative care nurses are especially at risk of compassion fatigue due to close contact with terminal patients.

METHODS

A province-wide cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling was conducted among 318 palliative care nurses at 25 hospitals and healthcare institutions in Sichuan Province, China. Data were collected using demographic questionnaire and five scales: Professional Quality of Life Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale, Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, and Connor-Davison Resilience Scale. Data analyses including descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, simple linear regression, and multiple linear regression.

RESULTS

Mean scores (SD) for burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction were 25.42 (4.75), 26.08 (5.72), and 35.67 (5.77), respectively. Related factors predicted 40.30%, 27.10%, and 35.4% of the variance in the model of burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction, respectively (all p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

The levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress among Chinese palliative care nurses were higher than those among other types of nurses. Social support, resilience, positive coping, family recognition of work, and income satisfaction are inhibitors of compassion fatigue among palliative care nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Nursing administrators and educators should consider providing effective and targeted strategies (e.g. ongoing training and psychological interventions) to decrease compassion fatigue among palliative care nurses based on the cultural and ethical settings.

Paediatric nurses' burnout and perceived health: The moderating effect of the common work‐shift

Aims

This study aimed to: (1) explore the relationship between paediatric nurses' burnout, perceived health and common work‐shift, (2) examine the moderating effect of the common work‐shift on the relationship between paediatric nurses' burnout and perceived health, (3) compare burnout and perceived health between paediatric nurses working on day shifts and night/alternate shifts.

Design

A cross‐sectional, correlational design was used in this study.

Methods

A convenient sample of 225 paediatric nurses was selected from nine hospitals in Jordan. Participants were surveyed using a self‐administered questionnaire.

Results

The perceived health correlated negatively with paediatric nurses' burnout and their common work‐shift. Also, nurses' burnout and common work‐shift were significantly correlated. The common work‐shift moderated the relationship between paediatric nurses' burnout and their health. To control the impact of paediatric nurses' burnout on their health, the ratio of the night‐to‐day shifts should be observed and balanced.