[Relationship between exercise adherence and personality characteristics in persons experienced in the Medical Fitness program].

Objective　We examined effective exercise adherence support methods for persons experienced in the Medical Fitness (MF) program to clarify the relation of personality traits with exercise adherence and the factors that improve exercise adherence.Methods　Subjects were 283 adults who had registered as members in the MF program at an affiliate of Hospital A. We implemented an anonymous self-administered questionnaire by postal mail. Using the Japanese version of the Ten Item Personality Inventory (which contains 10 items that measure the Big Five personality traits), we evaluated the following characteristics: "Extraversion", "Agreeableness", "Conscientiousness", "Neuroticism", and "Openness". The subjects who reported exercising regularly at the time of survey were considered persons with subjective exercise adherence.Results　In persons with subjective exercise adherence, "Conscientiousness" was significantly lower (P=0.003) among men and "Neuroticism" was significantly higher (P=0.018) among women when compared to persons with subjective exercise adherence. There was no correlation between the things that emphasize exercise adherence and "Conscientiousness" among men. There was a negative correlation between "can achieve goal" and "Neuroticism" among women.Conclusions　It is essential to consider personality and gender differences when devising exercise adherence support measures for the MF program. Our results suggest that women with high neuroticism do not need "can achieve goal" to maintain their exercise habits; therefore, it is necessary to examine teaching methods that do not focus on only goal achievement as part of exercise adherence support for MF.

Staff nurses' intention to remain employed in small- and medium-sized hospitals, with a focus on their working conditions.

Retaining experienced nurses is an indispensable part of securing the safety and reliability of medical care. In this study, we investigate how the working conditions affect staff nurses' intention to remain in their current employment positions (intention to remain employed). A total of 319 staff nurses working for three private hospitals were given a questionnaire in order to evaluate their working conditions. A stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis selected 5 out of 44 question items as significant independent variables for their intention to remain employed; they were assumed to directly affect their intentions (direct modulators). From the remaining 39 items, seven meaningful factors were extracted via factor analysis. We constructed a path network model so that these factors would indirectly affect the intention to remain employed via any of the five direct modulators (indirect modulators). In this network, the factor, "Rapport with coworkers" had the strongest positive effect on three of the five direct modulators (beta = 0.28-0.55, p < 0.05). According to factor loadings, positive teamwork together with appropriate supervision and recognition from superiors and colleagues seems to characterize this factor, and therefore, may play a key role in retaining staff nurses in their current positions. Two indirect modulators related to "Management by Objectives" (MBO)--"Understanding MBO" and "Clear personal objectives" also played negligible roles in this path model. These findings could be helpful in improving management systems of the nursing sections of hospitals, which could contribute to retaining staff nurses in their current employment positions.