Impact of COVID-19 on the Environments of Professional Nursing Practice and Nurses' Job Satisfaction

Development and Validation of the "Program to Promote Positive Nursing Practice Environments": Modified Delphi Study

Positive nursing practice environments benefit clients, professionals, and institutions, specifically for professionals, by improving professional visibility, recognition, retention intentions, well-being, commitment, job satisfaction, and reducing stress and burnout. Clients experience better quality care, safety, satisfaction, engagement, and fewer care omissions. Institutions favored reduced absenteeism and turnover, improved efficiency, lower costs, and better health outcomes. This study aimed to document the development of the "Program to Promote Positive Nursing Practice Environments" and analyze expert perceptions to reach a consensus. Using a two-round modified online Delphi technique with 22 experts, we examined perspectives on the program's goals, duration, organization, and content. Initial feedback showed agreement on the program's duration but mixed opinions on the number and length of sessions due to concerns about participant workload and fatigue. Adjustments led to a strong consensus and positive feedback on the program's coverage of essential nursing practice environment constructs. The program includes sessions on client, professional, and institutional dynamics, focusing on key attributes and outcomes for fostering positive nursing environments. By equipping nurses with knowledge and skills, the program aims to enhance work environments effectively. These findings provide a substantial advancement in the field, offering a robust framework for future initiatives.

Scale for the environments evaluation of professional nursing practice-shortened version: Psychometric evaluation

AIM

The aim of this study is to test the validity and reliability of the shortened version of the Scale for the Environments Evaluation of Professional Nursing Practice (SEE-Nursing Practice).

METHODS

This methodological, cross-sectional study was conducted between September and December 2022. The original version of the SEE-Nursing Practice was administered in questionnaire format across 17 hospitals. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to identify relevant items for the new shortened version of the scale and evaluate its construct validity.

RESULTS

The study involved 1713 registered nurses from various regions of Portugal. From the exploratory factor analysis, the SEE-Nursing Practice was condensed to 59 items and 3 subscales. In the structure subscale, 14 items were removed, and the remaining 29 items distributed over four factors; in the process subscale, 18 items were removed, and the remaining 19 items organized into three factors; in the outcome subscale, 2 items were removed, and the remaining 11 items distributed over two factors. The Cronbach's alpha for the three subscales exceeded 0.90, indicating high reliability. Confirmatory factor analyses provided support for the validity of the 59-item model.

CONCLUSION

The shortened version of the SEE-Nursing Practice shows adequate validity and reliability, reducing the burden associated with its longer version.

Evidence Synthesis for the Development of National Nursing-Sensitive Indicators in Malaysia: A Literature Review and Stakeholder Engagement Approach

Introduction

Nursing-sensitive indicators measure and evaluate nursing care quality and its contribution to patient care. The identification of indicators that demonstrate nursing care contribution and the quality of care delivered locally is of paramount importance, and national indicators that demonstrate this are essential. This paper aims to provide an evidence base of nursing-sensitive indicators that can facilitate the conceptualization of local nursing national indicators.

Method

A multifaceted and iterative approach incorporating literature review, and stakeholder engagements was utilized in evidence synthesis. A review of indicators present internationally complemented by the inclusion of context-specific local NSIs through stakeholder engagements was performed. Secondary data analysis of documents from an environmental scan was also included to highlight areas of concern for nursing-sensitive indicator prioritization from the viewpoint of nurses.

Results

A total of 64 articles were reviewed and indicators were coded according to the Nursing Care Performance Framework subsystems, dimensions, and variables. All papers reviewed had documented outcome indicators. From our secondary data analysis, nurses identified areas of concern such as nursing staff supply, staff maintenance, nursing processes and risk outcomes, and safety to be prioritized for developing quality indicators.

Conclusion

This paper provides a list of NSIs coded systematically with definitions to aid stakeholders in prioritizing indicators for national indicator development. The inclusion of areas of concern provides insight into NSIs that nurse practitioners find relevant to the local context. To our knowledge, this is the first paper that includes evidence available in the literature and incorporates stakeholders' perspectives in synthesizing evidence needed to guide the development of national nursing indicators. This iterative approach is crucial because it enhances the likelihood of knowledge translation.

Exploring the aftermath: Work demands, workplace violence, and job satisfaction among nurses in a public hospital in the post-COVID-19 era

Background

Despite the shift from the COVID-19 pandemic to an endemic phase, many individuals, including nurses, may still be facing psychosocial challenges after enduring three years of the pandemic. Although the anticipation that psychosocial issues, such as work demand and workplace violence, have diminished and nurses' job satisfaction has improved, there is a scarcity of studies in Indonesia investigating this matter.

Objective

This study aimed to 1) explore the current state of nurses' work demands, workplace violence, and job satisfaction and 2) examine the relationships between work demands, workplace violence, and respondents' characteristics with nurses' job satisfaction.

Methods

The study employed a cross-sectional survey design involving 247 nurses from a regional general hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia. Simple random sampling was used to select the participants, and the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) III was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression.

Results

The types of cognitive demands (M = 12.46, SD = 3.461), demands for hiding emotion (M = 11.66, SD = 3.554), and work pace (M = 9.87, SD = 2.847) scored an average close to or within the "sometimes/quite extensive" range on the scale. All types of workplace violence and conflicts occurred among nurses (Mean range = 1.21-2.57). Nurses perceived themselves as fairly satisfied with their job (M = 18.47, SD = 3.18). The results of the multiple linear regression indicated that nurses' job satisfaction was predominantly influenced by workplace violence (β = -0.191), followed by the type of care unit (β = -0.167) and work demands (β = -0.126). These factors collectively accounted for 9.1% of the variance in the job satisfaction variable (R2 = 0.091, p <0.005).

Conclusion

Despite the decreasing number of COVID-19 cases, nurses still experience high work demands and continue to face workplace violence. These factors, as well as the type of care unit, influence nurses' job satisfaction. Therefore, further actions need to be taken by hospital management to address these psychosocial conditions. It is recommended that future research explore the role of nurse managers in managing the psychosocial factors associated with these three factors.

The Motivation of Medical Staff and the Work Interestedness in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic, in a Tertiary Hospital in Romania

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the motivation and work interestedness of employees in a tertiary hospital located in the northwest of Romania. In the study, 2230 employee satisfaction questionnaires distributed during 2019–2021 in the Oradea Emergency County Clinical Hospital (CCEHO) were analyzed. The percentage of those who declare themselves motivated at the hospital level remains relatively constant, at around 75%. There were differences between staff categories. The percentage of those who evaluate work interestedness with the qualifier “high” decreased from 45.45% for the year 2019 to 41.78% for the year 2021. The degree of motivation and work interestedness showed a significant increase for TESA staff during the pandemic period compared to the year 2019. A non-significant statistical increase in the percentage of motivated staff was observed among physicians, auxiliary staff and the radiology department staff. The motivation of nurses and laboratory staff decreased, but statistically insignificantly. The COVID-19 pandemic brought statistically significant changes at the level of motivation of the hospital staff only for the administrative staff, and the work interestedness for physicians and nurses decreased statistically significantly, especially in the second year of the pandemic. Older staff with an average level of education are more likely to be unmotivated, as shown by the regression model.