Work-related stress, self-efficacy and mental health of hospital nurses

Prevalence and factors associated with job burnout among nurses in China: A cross-sectional study

AIM

Many people see nursing as a high-pressure, high-risk profession. Therefore, job burnout among nursing staff has become an important topic of study and has received widespread attention worldwide. This research intended to evaluate the frequency of and variables related with work burnout among nurses in public hospitals in China.

DESIGN

Using a multistage random sample procedure, a cross-sectional survey was carried out in the eastern, central and western areas of China.

METHODS

The Maslach Inventory-Human Service Survey and demographic information made up the two sections of the questionnaire. Of the 5250 questionnaires sent, 4865 were deemed legitimate, yielding an effective response rate of 92.67%. A linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the variables linked to nursing work burnout.

RESULTS

Among the 4865 nurses, women accounted for 97.4% of the survey respondents, most of whom were aged 26-35 years. Results showed that the total scores of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA) were 20.02 ± 12.04, 4.78 ± 5.54 and 34.42 ± 10.32 respectively. 50.7% of subjects obtained high or moderated scores on EE, 32.8% of subjects obtained high or moderated scores on DP and 80.4% of subjects obtained low or moderated scores on PA. Age, department, position, post-establishment, work shift type in recent months, overtime times in recent months and night shift frequency in recent months were negatively correlated with EE, and child status, monthly income, working days per week and sleep quality in recent 1 month were positively correlated with it (F = 141.827, P < 0.01, R2 = 0.243). Age, gender, department, post-establishment, overtime hours in recent months and night shift frequency in recent months were negatively correlated with DP, and child status and sleep quality in the last 1 month were positively correlated with it (F = 78.794, p < 0.01, R2 = 0.115). Child status, years of nursing work and sleep quality in the last 1 month were negatively correlated with PA, whereas age, position, work shift type in recent months and night shift frequency in recent months were positively correlated with it (F = 67.981, p < 0.01, R2 = 0.089).

Speech-language pathologists' professional stress level and factors affecting it in the Republic of Serbia

BACKGROUND

In the Republic of Serbia, to our knowledge, there has been no research dedicated to the professional stress faced by speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Since speech therapy belongs to the helping professions, SLPs might experience professional stress.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the levels of professional stress in SLPs concerning sociodemographic characteristics and terms of the workplace.

METHODS

The research was conducted online, using a questionnaire designed to determine professional stress in speech-language pathologists - Speech-Language Pathologist Stress Inventory. The voluntary sample consisted of 185 employed SLPs from the Republic of Serbia. The stress level was observed concerning marital status, years of working experience, age, educational degree, caseload size, job sector, job setting, type of patients' diagnosis, and type of service which SLPs provide.

RESULTS

The results showed that SLPs experience mild to moderate levels of professional stress and that there is a statistically significant difference in the stress level concerning years of working experience, age, job sector, and job setting. Applying Generalized Linear Mixed Model revealed that two-way interaction (Years of working experience * Marital status) and three-way interaction (Age * Job Setting * Type of patients' diagnosis) dominated on the model.

CONCLUSION

Since it is noted that SLPs are experiencing mild to moderate levels of professional stress, it is important to emphasize the need for adaptation of existing work terms as well as to provide additional support to speech therapists in order to improve their mental health.

Association between work stress and mental health in Chinese public health workers during the COVID-19 epidemic: mediating role of social support and self-efficacy

Background

Little is known about the mediating mechanisms underlying the association between work stress and mental health, especially among primary public health workers (PHWs). We aimed to evaluated the association between work stress and mental health among PHWs, and explore the mediating roles of social support and self-efficacy.

Methods

A large-scale cross-sectional survey was conducted among 3,809 PHWs from all 249 community health centers in 16 administrative districts throughout Shanghai, China. Pearson correlation and hierarchical linear regression were used to explore the associations among work stress, social support, self-efficacy and mental health. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to examine the mediation effects.

Results

The prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among primary PHWs was 67.3 and 55.5%, respectively. There is a significant positive direct effect of work stress on mental health (β = 0.325, p < 0.001). Social support and self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between work stress and mental health, respectively. Meanwhile, the chained mediating effects of social support and self-efficacy also buffered the predictive effects of work stress on anxiety and depression symptoms (β = 0.372, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Work stress has significant direct and indirect effects on mental health among primary PHWs. Enhancing social support and self-efficacy may be effective psychological interventions to mitigate the effects of work-related stress on mental health. These findings highlight the severity of mental health problems among primary public health workers and provide new evidence for early prevention and effective intervention strategies.

The role of women as change agents in a male-dominated context: Empirical findings from the transport and mobility industry

BACKGROUND

A variety of scholars deal with change agents' role within change processes and highlight their relevance as role models in an organisation, but there are shortcomings. First, research on the impact of change processes has traditionally focused on the impact on employees' (change recipients') wellbeing but only limited attention has been paid to the impact on change agents' own well-being, resilience, and health. Second, studies that reflect on female CAs' well-being are missed.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to enhance our knowledge on the role of women as change agents in analysing their perceived self-efficacy during change and their job satisfaction as job-related dimension of wellbeing.

METHODS

We applied a mixed-method design, conducting two studies based on data from 71 specialists - change agents - working in the transport or mobility departments of seven local authorities participating in the H2020 CIVITAS SUITS project, from six different countries, Greece, Spain, Italy, Romania, United Kingdom, and Lithuania.

RESULTS

The first quantitative survey shows that female change agents may have to perceive higher levels of self-efficacy during organisational change to perceive similar levels of job satisfaction as men. The second qualitative study (focus groups) provides more in-depth explanations of these results. This allows us to derive managerial implications to prevent decreases in women's well-being and strengthen their resilience and health during change.

CONCLUSION

This mixed-method study highlights the role of women as change agents, driving organisational change within male-dominated transport departments of local authorities. Our results show that female change agents need extra support in managing change processes within male-dominated contexts as the transport and mobility field to avoid a decrease in their perceived job satisfaction, their well-being and herewith, their physical and mental health.

Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Validation of the Galician Version of the Nurse Prescribing Self-Efficacy Scale

Low self-efficacy has been identified as one of the factors that could hinder the prescribing competence of nurses. No valid and reliable existing instruments assess Galician nurses' confidence to prescribe. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of the Galician version of the Nurse Prescribing Self-Efficacy Scale (G-NP-SES, 19 items). The study was conducted in two phases: the translation and adaptation to the Galician version of the NP-SES, and the assessment of its psychometric properties. G-NP-SES was sent to nurses working in primary healthcare centers in Galicia (Spain) between March and June of 2022. Its content, construct and discriminant validity, and internal consistency reliability were examined. A total of 193 people participated in the study. As the original scale, G-NP-SES also had three dimensions (% of cumulative variance = 80.82%). It showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α) = 0.90, with each factor ranging from 0.86 to 0.89), high content validity (scale's content validity index = 0.92, with item-content validity index ranged from 0.87 to 1), and good discriminant validity. G-NP-SES is an instrument with good psychometric properties which could be used to accurately assess Galician nurses' self-efficacy to prescribe and consequently to improve their job performance.

Psychological capital has a positive correlation with humanistic care ability among nurses

Objective

With the improvement in health awareness, humanistic care ability of nurses has become a focus of public attention. The aim of the study was to confirm the relationship between psychological capital and humanistic care ability of nurses, and to provide suggestions on improving the humanistic care ability of nurses.

Methods

A cross-section survey was conducted. Three hundred thirty-nine nurses were recruited from a tertiary general hospital in Taizhou, China. Psychological capital and humanistic care ability were measured using a self-reported questionnaire. Correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis were performed to analyze the correlation between psychological capital and humanistic care ability.

Results

The psychological capital and humanistic care ability scores were 91.57 ± 13.96 and 189.08 ± 20.37, respectively. Differences in psychological capital scores across professional titles (F = 4.88, p = 0.01), departments (F = 3.69, p < 0.001), years of work (F = 4.68, p < 0.001), and marital status (t = 3.25, p < 0.001) were statistically significant. There were statistical differences for the humanistic care ability scores among nurses based on marital status (p = 0.01). The total psychological capital scores and the four sub-dimensions scores were positively correlated with the humanistic care ability scores among nurses. Self-efficacy was the main predictor of nurses’ humanistic care ability.

Conclusion

Psychological capital positively affected the humanistic care ability of nurses. Self-efficacy was the main predictor of humanistic care ability. Nursing managers can formulate strategies from the perspective of positive psychology to improve humanistic care ability of nurses.

Moderated Role of Social Support in the Relationship between Job Strain, Burnout, and Organizational Commitment among Operating Room Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Unique environment, coupled with overload, low job control, and high risk might put operating room (OR) nurses in a state of high job strain, which might have negative influences on burnout and organizational commitment. Based on the Job Demand-Control-Support model and previous studies, we hypothesized that the relationship between job strain (determined by job demand and control) and organizational commitment could be mediated by burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization), the effect of job strain on burnout and organizational commitment could be moderated by social support. To verify the hypothesis, a quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted, 509 OR nurses from 30 tertiary hospitals in Beijing were recruited. Multiple-group path analysis was used to test the moderated role of social support. Propensity score matching was applied to match job strain in different groups. Our research found that in the low social support group, job strain was not related to organizational commitment, while in the high social support group, depersonalization was not related to organizational commitment. Furthermore, nurses in the low social support group were more likely to have depersonalization under job strain compared to the high social support group. Social support should be provided to alleviate the negative impact of job strain.