Exposing emotional labour experienced by nursing students during their clinical learning experience: A Malawian perspective

The link between task-focused care and care beyond technique: A meta-ethnography about the emotional labour in nursing care

OBJECTIVE

To synthesise the available body of qualitative work regarding the experiences of registered nurses and nursing students in managing emotional demands of care.

BACKGROUND

Care is the central part of nursing, and its provision is linked to interaction with patients. Comprehensive care allows emotions to be considered as an essential part of care. However, the emotional commitment that care demands poses a challenge for the nursing staff.

DESIGN

Noblit and Hare's interpretive meta-ethnography, which was written and reviewed for reporting clarity using the eMERGe.

METHODS

A comprehensive systematic search strategy was undertaken in PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO in January 2020. The search included terms related to the sample population, phenomenon of interest, purpose of the study and type of research. Original or mixed qualitative articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese were included if they addressed the emotional labour experiences of nurses or nursing students.

RESULTS

A line-of-argument synthesis based on the metaphor The link between task-focused care and care beyond technique was developed. Three themes from analogous and refutational translations of findings in the included nine papers emerged: (1) forces to get involved in care; (2) the cost of caring and (3) need to vent.

CONCLUSION

Nursing staff and students managed the emotional demands by adjusting their involvement in care. Care beyond technique is provided by nurses who have strength and motivation in themselves and in the interaction with patients to become emotionally involved in care. Task-focused care avoids emotional exposure to patient suffering due to the personal cost involved. Venting and distancing are required to emotionally reconstruct themselves and to re-engage in care.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Increased knowledge about these experiences may raise awareness of the emotional demands as part of the care process, to prevent their impact and favour their support.

Nurses' perspectives on their communication with patients in busy oncology wards: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Despite an increase in emphasis on psychosocial care in cancer nursing, time constraints and nurses' lack of knowledge in skilled communication continue to be challenges.

AIMS

To examine how cancer care nurses view their communication with patients and how they deal with the psychosocial needs of patients in busy wards.

DESIGN

A qualitative interview study.

METHODS

Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with eleven hospital-based cancer nurses in Hong Kong from July 2, 2017 to January 2, 2018.

RESULTS

A qualitative thematic analysis of the data identified three themes: 1. Intentional and unintentional psychosocial care that is secondary in focus; 2. Managing an emotionally challenged environment; 3. Mentoring and learning.

CONCLUSION

Oncology settings are time-constrained, emotionally charged environments for nurses, and providing psychosocial care for patients is a secondary concern. While proactive strategies can be used to avert patient complaints, being open and attending to the individual needs of patients is equally important to avoid blocking in nurse-patient communication. Despite emotional entanglement and tensions, the positive follow-up strategies used by nurses to manage the patients' emotions and provide psychosocial care reflect good practices. Leadership and support are needed to deal with the nurses' perception that their communication training has been ineffective and their ability to manage strong emotions deficient. Communication skills, honed by making continuous opportunities to communicate available, as well as an understanding of emotional labour, need to be integrated with mindfulness in the nurses' care of themselves and their patients. Notwithstanding the importance of experience in oncology care for junior nurses, it is necessary for both junior and senior nurses to learn about and reflect upon the different forms of emotional labour if value-based care is to be provided. In addition, it is essential for junior nurses to receive continuous coaching and mentoring, and to engage in reflective learning from each clinical encounter with oncology patients.

Is spirituality an important variable as the predictor of emotional labour for nursing students?

In the present study, the purpose was to examine nursing students' spirituality and their sociodemographic and professional characteristics as the predictor of emotional labour. In the study, the descriptive cross-sectional and relational research design was used. The study was carried out with 167 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students from the School of Health at a state university located in Southeast of Turkey. For the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, correlations and stepwise multilinear regression analysis were used. The results revealed that spirituality (β = 0.198), the average academic achievement score ranging between 80 and 100 (β = 0.152), perception of the school atmosphere to be "poor" (β = -0.367) and "average" (β = -0.269, p = .048) and a) increasing one's motivation by doing his or her job (Yes) (β = 0.154) and c) being in a peaceful environment (Yes) (β = 0.188) for psychological relaxation were found to be important predictors for the sub-dimension of in-depth behaviours of the nurses (p < .05). For the sub-dimension of superficial behaviour, perception of the school atmosphere to be "poor" (β = -0.204) was a statistically significant predictor (p < .05). As for the intimate behaviour, spirituality (β = 0.254), c) being in a peaceful environment (Yes) for psychological relaxation (β = 0.241) and gender (being female) (β = 0.230) were statistically significant predictors (p < .05). In order for nursing instructors and nurses to manage the nursing students' emotional labour process well, an appropriate educational and clinic environment should be established. Also, strategies considering nursing students' spiritual values and development should be developed.

The moderating effect of perceived organizational support in the relationship between emotional labour and job attitudes: A study among health professionals

AIM

The present study was set out to establish the link between emotional labour (surface and deep acting) and job attitudes (job satisfaction organizational commitment) by introducing perceived organizational support as a moderating variable.

DESIGN

The study made use of a cross-sectional design by sampling three hundred and forty-two (342) nurses and midwives from six health facilities in Ghana.

METHODS

The study employed a quantitative approach to examine the relationships between the study variables.

RESULTS

The study disclosed that whereas surface acting related negatively with job satisfaction but not with organizational commitment, deep acting did not relate significantly with both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Perceived organizational support as a moderating variable showed a significant moderating effect between surface acting and job attitudes. However, Perceived organizational support moderated the relationship between deep acting and organizational commitment but not job satisfaction. The findings pose much contextual relevance to health professionals where emotional regulations are core responsibilities of health care.

Emotional Labour and Wellbeing: What Protects Nurses?

Although compassionate care has wide-ranging benefits for patients, it can be emotionally demanding for healthcare staff. This may be a particular problem for those with little experience in a caring role. This study utilises the job demands-resources model to examine links between “emotional labour” and emotional exhaustion in student nurses. In line with the triple-match principle—whereby interactive effects are more likely when job demands, resources, and outcomes are within the same qualitative domain—the protective role of emotional support and emotion-focused coping (i.e., emotional venting) in the relationship between emotional labour and exhaustion is also explored. An online questionnaire was completed by 351 student nurses with experience working in healthcare settings. A strong positive relationship was found between emotional labour and emotional exhaustion, and some support was found for the moderating effects of emotional support and emotion-focused coping. Ways to help student and qualified nurses develop the emotional resilience required to protect their wellbeing, while providing high-quality compassionate care to patients are considered.