The impact of environmental and demographic factors on nursing job satisfaction

Job Satisfaction and Burnout in Croatian Physiotherapists

BACKGROUND

Physiotherapists are important healthcare professionals in modern and multidisciplinary health forces. However, they are exposed to a high risk of occupational burnout, which is associated with reduced job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is essential for medical professionals because it directly influences patient safety and the quality of medical care. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the association between sociodemographic variables of Croatian physiotherapists, job satisfaction, and occupational burnout.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was performed among 404 physiotherapists using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), and Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI).

RESULTS

The study group of Croatian physiotherapists was marked by a high level of job satisfaction and occupational burnout. However, a higher level of occupational burnout is associated with lower job satisfaction. The main determinants of job satisfaction were younger age, female gender, less work experience, and married or partnership. At the same time, a higher level of occupational burnout was associated with working in government institutions and being single.

CONCLUSIONS

As a reaction to psychological stress at work with the main components of exhaustion and disengagement, occupational burnout is negatively associated with job satisfaction. Therefore, assessing the factors influencing job satisfaction and burnout in the workplace can help develop physiotherapists' mental health prevention strategies.

Mediating effect of coping style on the relationship between clinical leadership and quality of work life among nurses in tertiary-level hospitals in China: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

To explore the association between clinical leadership and quality of work life, as well as the mediating role of coping style in this relationship.

SETTING

Three tertiary-level hospitals in Liaoning Province, China.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 1209 nurses were recruited for this study. Registered nurses who work full time with at least 1 year of work experience were eligible as subjects. Exclusion criteria were nurses who work indirectly with patients, such as in education, administration or research.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Questionnaires consisting of the work-related Quality of Life Scale, the Nurse Leadership Scale and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, as well as a demographic data sheet, were used to collect participant information. Pearson's correlation analysis, hierarchical multiple regression analysis, and asymptotic and resampling strategies were used to analyse the data.

RESULTS

The mean overall quality of work life score among Chinese nurses was 3.50±0.60. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, clinical leadership was positively associated with the score of quality of work life (β=0.55, p<0.01). Clinical leadership explained 27% of the variance in quality of work life. Coping style partially mediated the relationship between clinical leadership and quality of work life. The proportion of mediation of active coping was 21.82% and of passive coping was 5.79%.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical leadership was positively associated with quality of work life and coping style partially mediated the relationship between clinical leadership and quality of work life among nurses in China. Implementing measures focusing on both clinical leadership and coping style may provide success in improving the quality of work life of nurses.

Factors Determining Work Arduousness Levels among Nurses: Using the Example of Surgical, Medical Treatment, and Emergency Wards

Introduction

Staff shortages among nurses have been severely felt in most countries around the world for many years. In Poland, this problem is particularly visible due to the lowest nursing employment rate per 1000 inhabitants among 28 EU states and the high rate of leaving the profession. The average age of Polish nurses has been constantly growing for several years—in 2016 it was 50.79, while in 2008 it was 44.19. These data confirm that young nurses are the first to leave the profession. Diagnosis of the working conditions and psychosocial burden level among nurses should be subject to detailed analysis, so that leaving the profession will not additionally deepen the difficult staffing situation in health care.

Aim

The aim of the study was to identify factors affecting the assessment of work arduousness levels among nursing personnel.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted among 573 nurses working on surgical, medical treatment, and emergency wards. A standardized job evaluation questionnaire was used to conduct the survey.

Results

(1) Stress levels depended on the ward in which the surveyed person worked. Nurses working in the emergency ward assessed their conditions the best, with the lowest stress. The average general result in this group was 38.1 points versus 46 and 45.7 points in the surgical and medical treatment wards, respectively. (2) At the level of the whole studied group, both the nurses' age and work experience did not differ statistically significantly in the total assessment of working conditions. Differences in the assessment of work arduousness in different age categories occurred at the level of individual wards. In the surgical ward, younger employees were characterized by higher stress levels, especially in the area of arduousness (p=0.0165). In the medical treatment wards, there was a similar age-to-stress ratio for the area of organizational uncertainty (p=0.0063). With age, employees of the emergency ward became more indifferent to stress related to unpleasant working conditions (p=0.0009), while stress related to organizational uncertainty increased (p=0.0495). (3) Nurses working in managerial positions assessed the overall stress related to their job higher than other nurses. They were particularly at risk for burdens related to haste, responsibility, and organizational uncertainty. The average overall assessment of work arduousness for this group was 44.6 points, while for surgical nurses it was 37.2 points. Correlations between the performed function and stress levels were found for almost all of the studied work characteristics (except for hazards). (4) Education had a statistically significant impact on the perception of working conditions in several dimensions. The people with the lowest education evaluated working conditions the best. The difference between people with a higher and those with a secondary education with a specialization was definitely smaller and often nonexistent. Education differentiated the work arduousness assessment depending on the ward. The most statistically significant correlations were obtained in surgical wards, and the least in medical treatment wards.

Conclusions

(1) The study results indicate the need to diagnose problems related to work conditions in the context of occupational stress within individual hospital wards. To limit employee turnover, nursing staff managers should approach the issue of improving working conditions individually for each ward, due to differences in the nature of the work and level of stressogenicity. (2) In each hospital ward, employees at different stages of their career are sensitive to the psychosocial burden resulting from different work characteristics. These areas should be thoroughly diagnosed and the burden minimized to prevent departures from the profession—at early stages of the professional career as well as among experienced personnel. (3) Nurses working in managerial positions should receive the necessary substantive support, due to the higher stress burden associated with greater responsibility.

Academic versus non-academic neurosurgeons in China: a national cross-sectional study on workload, burnout and engagement

OBJECTIVES

Chinese neurosurgery has made great progress during the past decades; yet, little is known about the working status of neurosurgeons. This study aimed to evaluate the difference between academic and non-academic neurosurgeons, focusing on their professional burnout, job satisfaction and work engagement.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional nationwide survey.

STUDY SETTING

The survey was conducted in China between 2017 and 2018.

PARTICIPANTS

A total number of 823 academic neurosurgeons and 379 non-academic neurosurgeons participated in this study.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Professional burnout, job satisfaction and work engagement were assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Job Descriptive Index and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, respectively.

RESULTS

The majority of respondents were male (92.93%), less than 45 years old (85.27%) and married (79.53%). Chinese neurosurgeons worked 63.91±11.04 hours per week, and approximately 45% experienced burnout. Compared with non-academic respondents, academic neurosurgeons had longer working hours (p<0.01), higher income (p<0.01) and were less willing to get married (p<0.01). In addition, they showed a lower degree of burnout (p<0.01), a higher level of job satisfaction (p<0.01) and were more enthusiastic at work (p=0.015). Multivariate regression analyses indicated that divorced (OR 7.02, 95% CI 2.37 to 15.08) and workplace violence (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.18 to 2.24) were associated with burnout for both academic and non-academic respondents. Long working hours (≥71 hours per week) and low annual income (<1 00 000 RMB) were risk factors for burnout among academic neurosurgeons. For non-academic neurosurgical surgeons (age 36-45 years), working as attending doctors, serving in public hospitals and having the first house-living child were all closely related to the incidence of burnout.

CONCLUSION

Chinese neurosurgeons are under significant stress particularly for the non-academic neurosurgeons. Offering better opportunities for training, promotion, higher income and safer working environments could be solutions to relieve burnout and improve career satisfaction and engagement.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ChiCTR1800014762. This article is not linked to a clinical trial.

New Burnout Evaluation Model Based on the Brief Burnout Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties for Nursing

Health care personnel are considered one of the worker sectors most exposed to heavier workloads and work stress. One of the consequences associated with the exposure to chronic stress is the development of burnout syndrome. Given that evaluating this syndrome requires addressing the context in which they are to be used, the purpose of this work was to analyze the psychometric properties and structure of the Burnout Brief Questionnaire (CBB), and to propose a more suitable version for its application to health professionals, and more specifically nurses. The final study sample was made up of 1236 working nursing professionals. An exploratory factorial analysis was carried out and a new model was proposed through a confirmatory factorial analysis. Thus, validation of the CBB questionnaire for nursing health care personnel showed an adequate discrimination of the items and a high internal consistency of the scale. With respect to the factorial analysis, four factors were extracted from the revised model. Specifically, these new factors, called job dissatisfaction, social climate, personal impact, and motivational abandonment, showed an adequate index of adjustment. Thus, the Brief Burnout Questionnaire Revised for nursing staff has favorable psychometric properties, and this model can be applied to all health care professionals.