The role of self-endangering cognitions between long-term care nurses' altruistic job motives and exhaustion

Background

Due to demographic change and staff shortages nurses suffer under high work strain. As a consequence, caregivers' absenteeism due to mental stress, in particular burnout, is high. To explain the development of nurses' burnout more research is needed on nurses' individual resources and coping strategies. Self-endangering is a potentially harmful coping strategy.

Objective

To expand the perspective of the Job Demand-Resources Model by including caregivers' intraindividual resources and the coping construct of self-endangering as a mediator between personal resources and nurses' emotional exhaustion.

Methods

A longitudinal questionnaire survey was conducted between July 2020-March 2021 among nurses in long-term care in Germany. The final analysis sample consisted of wave 1 = 416 and wave 1,2 = 50. Data were analysed by a multiverse analytic strategy using regression analysis with measurement repetition and cross-lagged-panel design for waves one and two. Variables used for regression analysis and cross-lagged-panel were: Independent variables: An altruistic job motivation, team identification and self-esteem, dependent variables: Exhaustion and disengagement, and mediators: Self-endangering cognitions and behavior tendencies.

Results

A highly altruistic job motivation leads to more self-endangering cognitions and to more self-endangering behavior tendencies. Mixed model analysis and cross-sectional path analysis confirmed mediation effects from altruism over self-endangering to exhaustion.

Conclusion

Our findings are at odds with some research findings about altruism in nursing, such that too much altruism can lead to harmful self-endangering. We also introduce a new instrument to capture self-endangering in nursing care. Future research should investigate various facets of self-endangering in nursing. We assume that leadership behavior could have influence on self-endangering. New health policy structures are needed to improve working conditions in nursing and thus prevent self-endangering.

Home-Based Telework and Presenteeism: New Lessons Learned From the Covid-19 Pandemic

OBJECTIVE

Previous research found increased sickness presenteeism (working despite sickness) associated with home-based telework. The Covid-19 pandemic offers new insights into mechanisms, as a large proportion of the workforce was forced to work from home, irrespective of organizational and individual predispositions.

METHODS

A path analysis based on survey data from a sample of teleworkers collected during the Covid-crisis was performed.

RESULTS

We found no general relationship between telework and sickness presenteeism. However, employees with telework experience before the pandemic use telework more often for work intensification which is associated with increased sickness presenteeism. As teleworking before the pandemic is associated with indirect work control (goal-directed management), indirect effects of such work organizations on presenteeism were confirmed.

CONCLUSION

As hypothesized in prior research, indirect work control may increase self-endangering behavior which is amplified by telework.

Antecedents and Moderation Effects of Maladaptive Coping Behaviors Among German University Students

Prolonging working hours and presenteeism have been conceptualized as self-endangering coping behaviors in employees, which are related to health impairment. Drawing upon the self-regulation of behavior model, the goal achievement process, and Warr's vitamin model, we examined the antecedents and moderation effects regarding quantitative demands, autonomy, emotion regulation, and self-motivation competence of university students' self-endangering coping behaviors (showing prolonging working hours and presenteeism). Results from a cross-sectional survey of 3,546 German university students indicate that quantitative demands are positively related and autonomy has a u-shape connection with self-endangering coping. Emotion regulation was shown to be a protective factor for prolonging working hours. Moreover, self-motivation moderated the relationship between quantitative demands and prolonging of working hours, but not in the assumed direction. Self-motivation showed a systematic positive relationship with prolonging of working hours, but no relationship with presenteeism. Autonomy moderated the relationship of quantitative demands with both self-endangering behaviors. We found no moderating effects for emotion regulation of quantitative demands or autonomy and self-endangering behaviors. Besides further practical implications, the results suggest that lecturers should design their courses accordingly with less time pressure and university students should be trained in the use of autonomy.