The Relationships Amongst Pediatric Nurses' Work Environments, Work Attitudes, and Experiences of Burnout

Updating Factors Influencing Nurse Work Engagement in the Hospital Settings: A Systematic Review

Background

Understanding the factors influencing work engagement among nurses is crucial for ensuring high-quality care and positive patient outcomes. Despite numerous factors associated with nurse work engagement, many were explored before the pandemic, potentially overlooking aspects relevant to the current context.

Aim

To explore and update factors related to nurse work engagement in the new normal era.

Design

Systematic review.

Data Sources

The search was restricted to articles published from 2019 to 2024 in CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and ProQuest, with full English text. The search was conducted from September 13th to 15th, 2023. Quantitative research articles that examined factors related to work engagement were included.

Review Methods

Data extraction, quality appraisal, and data analysis were performed in all included studies. Manual content analysis method was used to classify and group the factors.

Results

Sixty-one research articles were included in the final review. Five key groups of factors were generated from content analysis, including 1) individual-related factors, 2) organizational-related factors, 3) job and role-related factors, 4) work-life balance, and 5) work environment.

Conclusion

Understanding and addressing these multifaceted factors holistically is essential to develop strategies to sustain optimal engagement levels among nursing staff and improve overall patient care outcomes. Further studies are needed to confirm the findings.

Burnout among French pediatric healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

The objectives of our study were: (1) to establish the prevalence of burnout among French pediatric healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) to identify the psychosocial factors that predict burnout in these healthcare workers. To achieve these objectives, a total of 99 physicians and 55 nurses from various French pediatric services completed a protocol questioning socio-demographic characteristics, the specific stress of pediatric care workers, the stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic, occupational stress (JSS), coping strategies (WCC-R) and burnout (MBI). Descriptive analyses (frequencies, means, and standard deviations) were used to address objectives (1). Multiple linear regressions were performed to address objective (2). The prevalence of burnout was 48% (95% CI [40-56]). Occupational stress and stress related to working conditions were the main factors predicting emotional exhaustion. Being female, years of practice, social support-seeking and stress related to confrontation with suffering and death negatively and significantly predicted depersonalization. Being a nurse, problem-focused coping and the sense of impact of the pandemic on the daily work significantly predicted personal accomplishment. In conclusion, our study showed a high prevalence of burnout among French pediatric healthcare workers, but the impact of the pandemic on this prevalence did not seem significant.

The relationship between professional quality of life and work environment among ICU nurses in Chinese: a cross-sectional study

Objective

To explore the relationship between the professional quality of life and work environment among intensive care unit nurses, and identify the influencing factors of intensive care unit nurses' professional quality of life.

Methods

This study design is cross-sectional and correlational descriptive. Four hundred fourteen intensive care unit nurses from Central China were recruited. Data were collected from three questionnaires of self-designed demographic questions, the professional quality of life scale and the nursing work environment scale. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, bivariate analysis and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data.

Results

A total of 414 questionnaires was collected, for an effective recovery rate of 98.57%. The original scores of the three sub-scales of professional quality of life were 33.58 ± 6.43, 31.83 ± 5.94, and 32.55 ± 5.74. Compassion satisfaction was positively correlated with the nursing working environment (p < 0.05), job burnout, and secondary trauma were negatively correlated with nursing work in environment (p < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis results show that, the nursing working environment entered into the influential factor model of professional quality of life scale (p < 0.001). The nursing working environment independently explained 26.9% of the changes in compassion satisfaction, 27.1% of the changes in job burnout, and 27.5% of the changes in secondary trauma. The nursing work environment is an important factor affecting the professional quality of life.

Conclusion

The better the nursing working environment, the higher the professional quality of life of intensive care unit nurses. Decision makers and managers can focus on improving the working environment of nurses, which may be a new perspective for managers to improve the professional quality of life of nurses and stabilize the nursing team.

Frequency and Outcomes of Workplace Incivility in Healthcare: A Scoping Review of the Literature

AIMS

To evaluate the frequency and outcomes of workplace incivility in healthcare for nursing management.

BACKGROUND

Incivility in the workplace is a significant problem that is important to nurse managers, as it goes directly against the fundamental values and ethics of providing high-quality care to patients. The Joint Commission (2021) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center have called on healthcare organizations to identify and intervene in the problem of workplace incivility.

EVALUATION

Studies included in this scoping review were those that measured and analyzed the frequency and outcomes of workplace incivility in healthcare. Four databases were searched, and 28 articles were reviewed. Evaluation was based on general quality, including study characteristics, instruments, and statistical analyses.

KEY ISSUES

Studies used a quasi-experimental design, and most focused on the Registered Nurse population. The Workplace Incivility Scale was the most commonly used instrument to measure workplace incivility frequency. The most frequently studied work-related outcomes were burnout, satisfaction, and turnover.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the frequency of workplace incivility in healthcare is not clear, its consequences are substantial. Multiple studies have revealed significant relationships between workplace incivility and work-related outcomes that are important to nurse managers. Research is needed on non-nursing healthcare professionals, and validation studies are needed on instruments used to measure workplace incivility frequency.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The findings of this review can help nurse managers better understand the phenomenon, frequency, and impact of workplace incivility in the healthcare setting and move toward addressing the problem of workplace incivility among nurses and other healthcare professionals.

The mediating effects of adversity quotient and self-efficacy on ICU nurses' organizational climate and work engagement

AIM

This study aimed to explore the mediating effects of adversity quotient and the moderating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between the organizational climate and the work engagement of intensive care unit nurses.

BACKGROUND

A good organizational climate can contribute to a high level of work engagement. Adversity quotient and self-efficacy are the key factors affecting nurses' work engagement, while the mechanism of these factors in the organizational climate and work engagement remains unclear. This study was conducted to contribute to the relevant field research.

METHODS

The study used a cross-sectional research design and surveyed 323 intensive care unit nurses working in a public hospital in China. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods: Pearson correlation analysis and PROCESS macro Model 7 in the regression analysis.

RESULTS

Organizational climate was positively correlated with work engagement and adversity quotient. The indirect effect of organizational climate on work engagement through adversity quotient was positive. Furthermore, self-efficacy moderated the relationship between the two factors.

CONCLUSION

Cultivating organizational climate and adversity quotients is an important strategy to improve the work engagement of intensive care unit nurses, particularly for nurses with high self-efficacy.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Administrators should make efforts to create a good organizational climate and cultivate nurses' adversity quotients and self-efficacy to decrease their intent to leave.

Exploring Pediatric Nurses' Perspectives on Their Work Environment, Work Attitudes, and Experience of Burnout: What Really Matters?

Background

Pediatric nurses care for some of the most vulnerable patients in our healthcare system and are vulnerable to the impact of the stress of their work on their well-being. Burnout is a potential response to chronic interpersonal stressors and a negative work outcome linked to personal and professional consequences. A thorough understanding of the experience and factors associated with burnout in this population is an important part of developing interventions to mitigate or prevent this workplace outcome. Therefore, our study objectives were to: (1) explain and expand our understanding of pediatric critical care nurses experience of burnout in relation to their work environment and work engagement; (2) provide recommendations for nursing administrators to improve nurses' work environment, work attitudes, and work outcomes.

Methods

A convenience sample of pediatric critical care nurses from a large pediatric quaternary care hospital in Ontario, Canada were invited to participate in this second phase of a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, with and main themes and subthemes distilled through the method of interpretive description.

Results

A total of 18 PICU/CCCU/NICU nurses participated. Derived themes included the experience and identification of burnout, including its prevalence and elusiveness. Their experiences of quality of work-life included themes such as compensation, emotional support at work, respect, their professional identity, and spill over into home life. They discussed components of work engagement, including the work itself, investment into their growth and development, and the meaning of their work. The self-care subthemes included the importance of preparation and recovery, and the use of physical and mental separation as a preservation strategy. The participants' recommendations for strategies to mitigate burnout were also summarized.

Conclusion

Burnout is a complex and regularly occurring experience for pediatric critical care nurses. Although the experience may be difficult to self-identify, the impacts on the individuals are profound. Further research and organizational support are needed to test practical and evidence-based interventions to improve the well-being of this population.