Daily work stress, mood and interpersonal job performance: A mediational model

The association between commuting, mood, and job performance: The Structural Equation Modelling

Commuting demands considerable amount of time for a worker's daytime. Numerous studies have shown the relationship between commuting and mood, and even job performance. Contradictory findings are also present in the literature regarding the association between commuting, mood, and job performance. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to examine the association between commuting, negative mood, and individual job performance, given the special focus on the mediating role of negative mood. Two hundred and twenty-siz participants were recruited via snowball sampling. Participants were asked to answer questions about commute duration and distance, to rate their mood upon arrival at work and to fill in Individual Work Performance Questionnaire. Results showed that commute duration and distance was associated with job performance through mood upon arrival at work. It is believed that this study provides valuable information regarding the mediating role of negative mood.

Work from Home: Measuring Satisfaction between Work–Life Balance and Work Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

Coronavirus (COVID-19), which hit in early 2020, changed the way people live and work, and affected industries and organizations all over the world. Many organizations have begun to deliver a new way of working to adapt to these shifts effectively using teleworking or a work from home policy. The purpose of this study was to fill the gaps by investigating several potential predictors of job satisfaction during working from home from the impact of COVID-19 such as work–life balance and work stress. Using a quantitative approach, 472 workers who were forced to work from home all over Indonesia participated, and the responses were analyzed using Smart-PLS software. The study revealed that working from home, work–life balance, and work stress have a significant effect, both directly and indirectly, on job satisfaction. Working from home as a new pace of work can sustain job satisfaction as the current working atmosphere for Indonesian workers. In response to the collectivist setting, working from home can be a positive sign that needs to be paid attention to for the organization.

Facilitated Nurse Medication-Related Event Reporting to Improve Medication Management Quality and Safety in Intensive Care Units

BACKGROUND

Medication safety presents an ongoing challenge for nurses working in complex, fast-paced, intensive care unit (ICU) environments. Studying ICU nurse's medication management-especially medication-related events (MREs)-provides an approach to analyze and improve medication safety and quality.

OBJECTIVES

The goal of this study was to explore the utility of facilitated MRE reporting in identifying system deficiencies and the relationship between MREs and nurses' work in the ICUs.

METHODS

We conducted 124 structured 4-hour observations of nurses in three different ICUs. Each observation included measurement of nurse's moment-to-moment activity and self-reports of workload and negative mood. The observer then obtained MRE reports from the nurse using a structured tool. The MREs were analyzed by three experts.

RESULTS

MREs were reported in 35% of observations. The 60 total MREs included four medication errors and seven adverse drug events. Of the 49 remaining MREs, 65% were associated with negative patient impact. Task/process deficiencies were the most common contributory factor for MREs. MRE occurrence was correlated with increased total task volume. MREs also correlated with increased workload, especially during night shifts.

DISCUSSION

Most of these MREs would not be captured by traditional event reporting systems. Facilitated MRE reporting provides a robust information source about potential breakdowns in medication management safety and opportunities for system improvement.

Making Professional Decisions in Research: Measurement and Key Predictors

The professional decision-making in research (PDR) measure was administered to 400 National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded and industry-funded investigators, along with measures of cynicism, moral disengagement, compliance disengagement, impulsivity, work stressors, knowledge of responsible conduct of research (RCR), and socially desirable response tendencies. Negative associations were found for the PDR and measures of cynicism, moral disengagement, and compliance disengagement, while positive associations were found for the PDR and RCR knowledge and positive urgency, an impulsivity subscale. PDR scores were not related to socially desirable responding, or to measures of work stressors and the remaining impulsivity subscales. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, lower moral disengagement scores, higher RCR knowledge, and identifying the United States as one's nation of origin emerged as key predictors of stronger performance on the PDR. The implications of these findings for understanding the measurement of decision-making in research and future directions for research and RCR education are discussed.

The Effects of Temporal Separation on the Relations between Self-Reported Work Stressors and Strains

The assumption that a longitudinal design reduces the size of the relationships between work stressors and strains was tested. A comparison of cross-sectional and longitudinal correlations suggested that temporal separation of stressors and strains reduced correlations between role ambiguity and primarily attitudinal strains. Cross-sectional correlations between role conflict and strains, as well as correlations involving health-related strains, were practically unaffected by switching to a longitudinal design. A theory-driven approach to the adoption of temporal separation of stressor and strain measures in organizational stress research is outlined.

Mothers' work-family conflict and enrichment: associations with parenting quality and couple relationship

BACKGROUND

Employment participation of mothers of young children has steadily increased in developed nations. Combining work and family roles can create conflicts with family life, but can also bring enrichment. Work-family conflict and enrichment experienced by mothers may also impact children's home environments via parenting behaviour and the couple relationship, particularly in the early years of parenting when the care demands for young children is high.

METHODS

In order to examine these associations, while adjusting for a wide range of known covariates of parenting and relationship quality, regression models using survey data from 2151 working mothers of 4- to 5-year-old children are reported.

RESULTS/CONCLUSION

Results provided partial support for the predicted independent relationships between work-family conflict, enrichment and indicators of the quality of parenting and the couple relationship.

Associative stigma among mental health professionals: implications for professional and service user well-being

In contrast with growing attention given to the stigma experiences of mental health service users, the stigma literature has paid almost no attention to mental health professionals. This study focuses on experiences of associative stigma among these professionals. We investigate the link between associative stigma and three dimensions of burnout as well as job satisfaction among mental health professionals, and the link of associative stigma with self-stigma and client satisfaction among service users. Survey data from 543 professionals and 707 service users from diverse mental health services are analyzed using multilevel techniques. The results reveal that among mental health professionals associative stigma is related to more depersonalization, more emotional exhaustion, and less job satisfaction. In addition, in units in which professionals report more associative stigma, service users experience more self-stigma and less client satisfaction. The results reveal that associative stigma is related to more depersonalization, more emotional exhaustion, and less job satisfaction among mental health professionals.

The Physical Health Questionnaire (PHQ): Construct Validation of a Self-Report Scale of Somatic Symptoms

The authors report the results of 3 studies that were conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Physical Health Questionnaire (PHQ), a brief self-report scale of somatic symptoms. In Study 1, exploratory factor analysis results revealed 4 empirically distinct dimensions of somatic symptoms: gastrointestinal problems, headaches, sleep disturbances, and respiratory illness. In Study 2, this structure was replicated using confirmatory factor analysis, and correlations of the PHQ dimensions with measures of negative affect, psychological health, and job performance provided further validity evidence. In Study 3, a minor revision to the wording of several items helped to address the limitations of one of the PHQ subscales. Together, these results provide evidence of the construct validity of the PHQ.

Downsizing and reorganization: demands, challenges and ambiguity for registered nurses

BACKGROUND

The 1990s were characterized by substantial financial cuts, and related staff redundancies and reorganizations in the Swedish health care sector. A large hospital in Sweden was selected for the study, in which downsizing had occurred between 1995 and 1997. The number of staff in the hospital was reduced by an average of 20%, and 10% were relocated to other departments.

OBJECTIVE

The aims of this study were to explore registered nurses' experiences of psychosocial 'stressors' and 'motivators', and how they handled their work situations, following a period of personnel reductions and ongoing reorganization.

METHOD

Interviews were undertaken with 14 nurses working in one Swedish hospital. Nurses were interviewed in 1997 about the recent and last round of redundancies, and were followed up 1 year later in 1998 and again in 2001. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed for thematic content.

RESULTS

Five themes emerged in relation to nurses' perceived stressors, motivators, and coping options: 'distrust towards the employer', 'concurrent demands and challenges', 'professional ambiguity, 'a wish for collaboration', and 'efforts to gain control'. A common feature was duality and ambiguity in nurses' descriptions of the phenomena studied, meaning that identified themes had underlying sub-themes with both negative and positive dimensions.

CONCLUSIONS

The concurrence of 'ever-growing job demands' and 'work going unrewarded' contributed to a feeling of being taken advantage of by the employer. The 'waste of human resources' and 'competence drain' that followed redundancies provoked anger. Unfulfilled collaboration with doctors was a major stress producer, which related to both the downsized work organization, and the complex 'deference-dominance' doctor-nurse relationship. The well-being of nurses depends on being an equal/parallel health professional in a comprehensive team that shares knowledge and improves collaborative care of patients. A consciously formulated nursing philosophy emerged as a health-promoting resource. This study demonstrates the importance of analysing feelings relating to professional ambiguity and gaining influence in a gender-related, hierarchical environment, and the need to support professional assertiveness in relation to superiors and doctors. It is also important to stress considerations that relate to differences in the age, care philosophy, and psychosocial health conditions of nurses.