Areas of professional life and job satisfaction of nurses

Introduction

Job satisfaction among nurses is closely related to work environment as well as organizational and professional commitment. Satisfaction is a concept derived from Latin, where "satis" means "enough," as much as is needed to fully satisfy expectations, needs, aspirations, in such a way that there is no room for complaint. Job satisfaction, on the other hand, is formulated as a positive attitude of employees toward the duties of the job, the work environment and other employees. The aim of this paper was to demonstrate how the different areas of nurses' professional life, i.e., workload, control, rewards, community, sense of justice and values, correlate with their perceived job satisfaction.

Materials and methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a group of 509 nurses working in a public hospital in Poland. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire, which consisted of a section containing sociodemographic data and standardized instruments: The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and The Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS) developed by Maslach and Leiter. Correlations were made using Spearman's rho coefficient. The calculations also used stepwise linear regression analysis after checking certain assumptions, including checking the assumption of normality of residuals and the Durbin-Watson Test.

Results

The mean score for the 20 items of the MSQ questionnaire ranged from 3.05 to 3.43 on a 5-point Likert scale. Support from the interdisciplinary team, which concerned assessing the quality of the social environment in the workplace, cooperation and showing positive feelings received the highest rating among respondents (3.51 ± 0.76). The sense of fair treatment at work averaged 3.26 ± 0.58. The area of value conflict within the organization itself or between the employee's values and those of the organization, respondents rated an average of 3.26 ± 0.65. The mean score for all areas of professional work in the surveyed group was 3.09 ± 0.45.

Conclusion

As satisfaction in particular areas of work life increases, so does the level of satisfaction in such aspects of work as achievement and a sense of fairness. The higher the level of satisfaction in the area of control, the more the sense of satisfaction with independence increases. The higher the satisfaction of respondents in the areas of values, workload and control, the higher the level of satisfaction with working conditions occurs.

Assessment of anxiety disorders in students starting work with coronavirus patients during a pandemic in Podlaskie Province, Poland

Background

Anxiety disorders are considered the sixth most important factor resulting in non-fatal health loss in the world. Moreover, they are among the first ten causes of years lived with disability (YLD) across the globe. Important clinical disorders include e.g., panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and specific phobia.

Objectives

The study aimed to analyse the occurrence of level anxiety in students who start work at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, with relation to the socio-demographic factors and health status, vaccination, conovirus infection, assistance of a psychologist or psychiatrist in the past, and using tranquilizers.

Methods

The study involved 255 students from Poland starting work with coronavirus patients during the pandemic. It was conducted using our own questionnaire, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).

Results

Fifty-one percent of subjects demonstrated symptoms of mild to severe social phobia. Level of trait anxiety among students correlated significantly with age and gender (females). The level of social anxiety in the evaluated students was significantly correlated with marital status, the self-assessment of the experienced fear, self-perceived health status, having had a coronavirus infection, fear of deterioration of one's health after starting work with coronavirus patients, and fear of contracting the disease while working with coronavirus patients, and using tranquilizers. Level of state anxiety significantly correlated with state anxiety, the self-assessment of professional preparedness for work with coronavirus patients, self-perceived health status, vaccination against coronavirus, and the assistance of a psychiatrist in the past.

Conclusions

The proportion of students showing social anxiety is alarming. Anxiety among the evaluated students during the COVID-19 pandemic was correlated with many factors.

The sense and meaning ascribed to professional work by women with cancer

BACKGROUND

The fact that professional activity is reduced is a very challenging experience for persons with cancer whose sense of self-worth is linked to their work. Not only does cancer often become the reason for their deteriorated socio-economic position but it also reduces the quality of life assessment in cancer patients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The aim of the study was to discover the sense and meaning that women with cancer ascribe to their professional work. The research was carried out among 6 women diagnosed with cancer, aged 32-49 years. A qualitative research strategy was adopted in the study and interpretative phenomenological analysis was applied.

RESULTS

Based on the conducted research, when faced with cancer, the respondents often perceive professional work as a factor that triggers cancer and, at the same time, one that can increase their self-esteem, giving meaning to their life. It, therefore, seems crucial to support the professional activity of cancer patients and to create jobs promoting health.

CONCLUSIONS

When working with a person suffering from cancer, it is worth considering the possibilities that returning to work is likely to carry. It is important to create such jobs and work environments that would be consistent with the concept of health promotion. It seems that the key factors here are the appointment of persons responsible for the return process of a person with a chronic illness, accompanied by efficient communication between the employer and occupational health services, and efficient exchange of information between the treating physician and the workplace (with the employee's consent). Med Pr. 2021;72(1):1-8.

Health-care professionals' experiences of patient participation among older patients in intermediate care-At the intersection between profession, market and bureaucracy

Background

Patient participation is a key concern in health care. Nevertheless, older patients often do not feel involved in their rehabilitation process. Research states that when organizational conditions exert pressure on the work situation, care as a mere technical activity seems to be prioritized by the health‐care staff, at the expense of patient involvement.

Objective

The aim of this article is to explore how health‐care professionals experience patient participation in IC services, and explain how they perform their clinical work balancing between the patient's needs, available resources and regulatory constraints.

Design

Using a framework of professional work and institutional logics, underpinned by critical realism, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with 18 health‐care professionals from three IC institutions.

Results

IC appears as an important service in the patient pathway for older people with a great potential for patient participation. However, health care staff may experience constraints that prohibit them from using professional discretion, which is perceived as a threat to patient participation. Further, they may adopt routines that simplify their interactions with patients. Our results call for more emphasis on an individualized rehabilitation process and a recognition that psychological and social aspects are critical for patient participation in IC.

Conclusion

Patients interact in the face of conflicting institutional priorities or protocols. The study adds important knowledge about the practice of patient participation in IC from a front‐line provider perspective. Underlying mechanisms are identified to understand and recommend how to facilitate patient participation at different levels in narrowing the gap between policy and clinical work in IC.

[Impact of reorganization of the Hungarian system of intensive care units in 2012]

INTRODUCTION

In 2012, the Hungarian system of intensive care units was reorganized. During this process, multidisciplinary units were separated from observation units.

AIM

The author analysed certain indicators of the remaining intensive care units.

METHOD

The study was based on reports of National Health Insurance Fund between 2000 and 2015.

RESULTS

After reorganization the number of the multidisciplinary intensive care units decreased by 20% and the number of beds decreased by 10%. Due to the reorganization, both the case-mix index and the days of mechanical ventilation increased significantly in the multidisciplinary intensive care units. In 2000, 12% of the patients were discharged directly from the intensive care units to home, but by 2014, this figure decreased to 3%. The bed-occupancy rate of the intensive care units did not change fundamentally and it was under 80% in each calendar day. In addition to the ICD leading groups I and J, the rate of "Sine morbo" (U9990) diagnosis decreased from 0.7% to 0.2%. Similarly, the ratio of R group which describes only symptoms decreased from 1.7% to 1.1%. In contrast, between the interventions the number of fluid and electrolyte imbalances and respiratory monitoring showed more than twofold increase.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the reorganization was effective. The activity of the intensive care units has improved significantly, without disturbing patient care. The author suggests further analysis on the basis of the same criteria for other departments and the consistent continuation of the reorganization process. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(44), 1757-1761.

Compositions of professionalism in counselling work: An embodied and embedded intersectionality framework

This article explores the embodied compositions of professionalism in the context of the counselling psychology profession in Russia. Specifically, we develop an embodied intersectionality framework for theorizing compositions of professionalism, which allows us to explain how multiple embodied categories of difference intersect and are relationally co-constitutive in producing credible professionals, and, importantly, how these intersections are contingent on intercorporeal encounters that take place in localized professional settings. Our exploration of how professionalism and professional credibility are established in Russian counselling shows that, rather than assuming that a hegemonic 'ideal body' is given preference in a professional context, different embodied compositions may be deemed credible in various work settings within the same profession. An embodied intersectionality framework allows us to challenge the notion of a single professional ideal and offer a dynamic and contextually situated analysis of the lived experiences of professional privilege and disadvantage.

Second and third year oral health and dental student perceptions of future professional work

OBJECTIVES

To explore and compare the ways dental and oral health students characterise their future professional work (FPW) at the end of their second and third professional years.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Questionnaires were given to a cohort group of 48 dental students and 31 oral health students at the end of their second and third professional years at the University of Otago. Students' characterisations of their FPW were identified using an inductive approach, and the emphasis on each characterisation was confirmed using a 'weighted' table.

RESULTS

Dental student response rates were 92% (in 2010) and 85% (in 2011); and oral health student response rates were 100% (in 2011) and 97% (in 2011). Students characterised their FPW in ten broad ways: in reference to treatment-related concerns, patient-related concerns, oral health promotion, oral health education, disease prevention and monitoring, communication, teamwork, maintaining an ideal clinical environment, maintaining a sense of self and improving quality of life. In both years, dental students emphasised treatment-related concerns as central to their FPW and dealing with patient-related concerns as a primary source of difficulty. Oral health students emphasised oral health promotion, oral health education, disease prevention and monitoring and restorative tasks as central to their FPW and dealing with patient-related concerns as a primary source of difficulty.

CONCLUSION

Students' broad perceptions of their FPW changed little as they progressed through their programmes; however, their responses suggested the need for greater attention within their programmes to patient management and teamwork.