Some Rest for the Weary? A Qualitative Analysis of Clergy Methods for Managing Demands.

In many ways, clergy (i.e., religious leaders including pastors, ministers) are a high-risk population. In their efforts to ensure the spiritual well-being of their congregations, clergy may neglect their own well-being and be unaware of the potentially detrimental effects that their work has on their health. The purpose of this study was to add to the growing knowledge base about how clergy perceive the relationship between their work and their well-being, the strategies they use to recover from their work, and the ways they balance work and nonwork areas of their lives. This qualitative study explores these areas to further understand the nature of clergy work and recovery from work. Clergy (N = 332) were asked to respond to a set of open-ended prompts related to their perceptions of work interference with health, and strategies at and outside of work they use to manage work and nonwork demands. The present study sheds light on recovery strategies (i.e., self-care practices) and practices clergy may use to successfully manage demands in the work and nonwork areas of their lives. Specifically, prioritizing, personal time (e.g., time spent in hobbies), and physical activities emerged as common strategies and practices. Our results have the potential to guide researchers in how to design interventions aimed at assisting individuals in this at-risk population.

Impact of spousal work restrictions on expatriates' work life and overall life satisfaction.

Our understanding of the challenges and the broader role of spouses of expatriates is extremely limited. This study examined the impact of spousal work restrictions on expatriates' work life and overall life satisfaction using qualitative and quantitative analyses based on data from a sample of 409 Indian Information Technology professionals working in USA. Furthermore, hypothesised conditional process model (tested with PROCESS analysis tool) was supported, showing that spousal work restrictions created complications in personal lives of expatriates, which interfered with work lives resulting in lower overall life satisfaction. We identified six core classes of challenges faced by spouses of expatriates: wasted skills, financial issues, boredom, social isolation, quality time and domestic tension. Our mixed method approach also helps to provide a more comprehensive picture of these complications. This study may help organisational leaders and policy makers to more fully consider the implications of visa-related policy changes on expatriate families.

The Sacred and Stressed: Testing a Model of Clergy Health.

In many ways, clergy and religious leaders are an ignored, yet high-risk population. A clergy member unable to cope with challenges in his or her own life may be ineffective at helping church members to cope with their stress. In the present study, we developed and tested an operational model of clergy holistic health, including occupational demands, and personal and job-related resources. Data were collected from clergy (N = 418) and analyzed using correlational and regression-based techniques. Results from the present study provide support for the demands-control-support model (Johnson and Hall in Am J Public Health 78(10):1336-1342, 1988). Specifically, our findings suggest that clergy mental health may be improved by (a) an increase in the work-related social support needed to take advantage of job control followed by (b) an increase in job control. Furthermore, the present findings expand on previous research by identifying spiritual well-being as an important outcome that may be impacted by job-related demands. The present findings also underscore the value of contextualized or occupation-specific measures, given the stronger correlations that were observed between the occupation-specific measure of perceived job demands than the general measure of perceived job demands.

Explaining Student Interest and Confidence in Providing Care for Older Adults: The Role of Demographics and Life Experiences.

America's aging population needs interprofessional health care providers committed to providing high-quality, patient-centered care. Considering the often negative attitudes held by health care students about older adults and the impact that can have on their care, it is important to explore factors that influence student attitudes and desire to provide geriatric care. Five hundred seventy-two students pursuing nursing, physical therapy, athletic training, dietetics, and social work degrees were surveyed. Students reported demographic factors, amount of contact with older adults, how rewarding that contact had been, and confidence and interest in working with older adults. Higher levels of confidence were associated with gender, studying nursing or physical therapy, and being older. Overall, confidence and interest were positively correlated with (a) positive attitudes toward aging, (b) contact frequency, and (c) quality experiences with older adults. Therefore, confident students with an interest in working with the geriatric population upon graduation have more exposure and more rewarding experiences with older adults before entering their program. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 43(3), 13-18.].

Perceptions of Chaplains' Value and Impact Within Hospital Care Teams.

Many scholars have written about the role of spirituality in health care. One mechanism for incorporating spirituality into the care of patients is to integrate clinically trained chaplains into hospital care teams. We examined in a mixed-methods fashion, the effects of this type of integrated care team within a teaching hospital setting. The quality and impact of chaplain involvement were studied from patient and physician-in-training perspectives, using data from more than 200 patients and physicians in training. Findings clearly show that clinically trained chaplains can contribute meaningful expertise and real value to the quality and comprehensiveness of patient and physician experiences.

Linking Nurse Leadership and Work Characteristics to Nurse Burnout and Engagement.

BACKGROUND: Burnout and engagement are critical conditions affecting patient safety and the functioning of healthcare organizations; the areas of worklife model suggest that work environment characteristics may impact employee burnout and general worklife quality. OBJECTIVES: The purpose was to present and test a conditional process model linking perceived transformational nurse leadership to nurse staff burnout and engagement via important work environment characteristics. METHODS: Working nurses (N = 120) provided perceptions of the core study variables via Internet- or paper-based survey. The hypothesized model was tested using the PROCESS analysis tool, which enables simultaneous testing of multiple, parallel, indirect effects within the SPSS statistical package. RESULTS: Findings support the areas of worklife model and suggest that transformational leadership is strongly associated with work environment characteristics that are further linked to nurse burnout and engagement. Interestingly, different work characteristics appear to be critical channels through which transformational leadership impacts nurse burnout and engagement. DISCUSSION: There are several methodological and practical implications of this work for researchers and practitioners interested in preventing burnout and promoting occupational health within healthcare organizations. These implications are tied to the connections observed between transformational leadership, specific work environment characteristics, and burnout and engagement outcomes.

Understanding time use, stress and recovery practices among early career physicians: an exploratory study.

Early career physicians (ECPs) work an average of 80 h per week, and at times may approach 24 continuous hours working. These hours, combined with a stressful work environment, and an inability to physically and psychologically detach from work make ECPs likely to experience burnout and other negative health-related consequences. This study provides insight into the stress and recovery challenges faced by ECPs in a typical hospital environment. Rich qualitative and quantitative data were gathered from participants regarding daily time usage, and recovery practices and needs. ECPs report longer working hours, less leisure time and shorter amounts of sleep than average working adults. ECPs do not participate in many resource-replenishing activities while at work, and when out of work, they tend to participate in more passive than active forms of recovery. Resource-draining activities were identified as requiring much of ECP's nonwork time, further limiting recovery. The prevention of burnout and other negative health consequences among ECPs requires the building of a workplace and educational culture that supports regular resource replenishment. This includes the need for a curriculum of medical education that teaches ECPs to identify the signs of stress and recovery needs, and how to effectively address these needs.

Preparing for bike-sharing: insight from focus groups and surveys, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 2010.

OBJECTIVES: To obtain in-depth community input using qualitative and quantitative methods to guide development and marketing of a bike-share program in Chattanooga, Tennessee. METHOD: Focus groups and surveys assessed bicycling attitudes, beliefs, barriers, and behaviors of residents, workers, and university students. The authors completed nine focus groups (N = 56): five sessions with downtown workers, three with downtown residents, and one with university students. RESULTS: Health, recreation and transportation benefits of bicycling were commonly identified. Concerns regarding bicycling in traffic are apparent because of lack of facilities and a need for public education on safe motorist and bicyclist behavior. Practical limitations can inhibit bicycling during the day, including shower access and personal hygiene concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Public desire for environmental, educational, and enforcement tactics to support safe bicycling was noted. Marketing tactics for bike-share usage should emphasize health, recreational, and transportation benefits. Worksites can reduce barriers related to bicycling and encourage bike-share use. Future studies should assess bike-share impact on perceptions and behavior, as well as the resulting policy and environmental changes.

Not all resources are created equal: COR theory, values, and stress.

The common usage of conservation of resources (COR) theory highlights the quantity of resources in explaining stress reactions and responses. To expand the theoretical understanding and explanatory power of COR theory, this study tested the proposition that the perceived importance of an individual's resources is a function of personal values. Using a value framework based on Schwartz (1994), it was expected that values would influence both the appraisal of resource importance and coping behaviors. Results from both student and working samples indicated that while resource importance did not clearly mediate all of the coping outcomes, values did have an influence on the importance an individual assigns to resources. Measurement and theoretical implications related to COR theory are discussed.

Understudied social influences on work-related and parental burnout: Social media-related emotions, comparisons, and the "do it all discrepancy".

Recent societal changes, including a global pandemic, have exacerbated experiences of and attention to burnout related to work and parenting. In the present study, we investigated how several social forces can act as demands and resources to impact work-related and parental burnout. We tested two primary hypotheses in a sample of women who responded to an online survey (N for analyses ranged from 2376 to 3525). We found that social comparisons, social media use, negative emotions when comparing oneself to others on social media, and a high do it all discrepancy (feeling one should be able to do it all more so than perceptions that one can) were correlated with higher reports of work-related and parental burnout. Alternatively, positive emotions when comparing oneself to others and social support were related to lower reports of work-related and parental burnout. The influence of social media use on burnout was mediated by the emotions experienced when comparing oneself to others on social media. Tests of moderation indicated that social comparisons had stronger relationships with burnout for those with higher expectations that they should be able to do it all verses can do it all. Tests of social support as a moderator of the relationships between social demands and burnout were largely non-significant. Based on these findings, we make practical suggestions for interventions to increase positive emotions experienced from social media use, and to mediate the do it all discrepancy by redefining expectations around "doing it all."

Comparative analysis of integrative self-knowledge, mindfulness, and private self-consciousness in predicting responses to stress in Iran.

Previous research has established that awareness of self-experience is a stress resistance resource. The present study conducted an analysis of measures that record different aspects of self-awareness (private self-consciousness, mindfulness, and integrative self-knowledge) to explain this stress-resistance effect in a sample of Iranian university students (N = 186). These students responded to Mindfulness Attention Awareness, Private Self-Consciousness, Integrative Self-Knowledge, and Perceived Stress Scales just before the stress of a 20-day final examination period, and they then responded to Symptom Checklist and Vitality measures at four-day intervals during the final examinations. Prior to final examinations, the three self-awareness variables correlated positively with each other and negatively with perceived stress. Regression analyses of the data obtained during final examinations identified mindfulness to be a better operationalization of this stress-resistance resource than private self-consciousness. Specifically, mindfulness but not private self-consciousness was a positive predictor of vitality and a negative predictor of symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses also demonstrated that mindfulness and integrative self-knowledge both explained resistance to physical symptoms, while integrative self-knowledge functioned as a protective factor toward one's vitality. These data confirm the positive impact that self-awareness has during stress and highlight the importance of considering both mindfulness and integrative self-knowledge in understanding stress-resistance processes.

The interactive effects of proactive personality and work-family interference on well-being.

Proactive personality was expected to moderate the relationship between controllable work and nonwork stressors (e.g., time-based work-family interference) and job/life satisfaction. Moderated multiple regression analyses of survey data from a sample of professionals (N=133) revealed a significant interaction between time-based family interfering-with work and proactive personality predicting life satisfaction and several main effects offering partial support for the hypothesized relationships (alpha<.05). No other interactions between proactive personality and other forms of work-family interference were observed. The benefits of proactive personality may only emerge when personal control over occupational stressors can be exercised.

The moderating role of goal orientation in the workload-frustration relationship.

Goal orientation was hypothesized to moderate the relationship between quantitative workload and frustration. Based on data from 460 graduate students, two forms of goal orientation moderated this relationship. Specifically, it was found that workload was positively related to frustration for people with high levels of avoiding goal orientation, but not for those with low levels of avoiding goal orientation. In addition, it was found that the positive effect of workload on frustration was weaker for people with high levels of mastery goal orientation than for those with low levels of mastery goal orientation. Both theoretical and practical implications of the current findings are discussed.

Barriers to physical activity in an on-site corporate fitness center.

Many corporations provide employees the option of participating in on-site fitness centers, but utilization rates are low. Perceived barriers to physical activity have been established as important correlates of physical activity, and recent research indicates that barriers may vary across settings. Work-site fitness centers may present unique barriers to participation, but there are currently no standardized measures that assess such barriers. Eighty-eight employees of a midwestern corporation completed a survey designed to identify and evaluate the extent to which barriers influence participation in an on-site corporate fitness center. Regression analyses revealed that external environmental barriers (e.g., inadequate exercise facilities) significantly accounted for not joining the fitness center, and for decreased duration of visits to the facility among members. Internal barriers (e.g., feeling embarrassed to exercise around coworkers) significantly accounted for frequency of fitness center visits among members. This corporate specific measure may lead to more effective interventions aimed to increase use of on-site corporate fitness centers.

Rational versus empirical prediction of nursing student success.

Undergraduate and graduate nursing education programs can offer a very limited number of positions to a very large number of student applicants. Although practices vary widely across schools of nursing, it is common in many programs to use rational or holistic judgment when determining which student applicants to admit. The present applied study demonstrates a method and several examples of alternative selection models that can improve administrators' ability to efficiently and effectively identify student applicants with the highest probability of success. The example models are also tested within a sample of students (N = 283) from a very active bachelor of science in nursing program, and recommendations for use are provided. Results clearly support the use of admission formula scores generated from regression-based methods versus admission formula scores generated from a typical rational points-based method of weighting applicant admission criteria.

Disclosure and documentation of reported unanticipated medical events or outcomes: need for healthcare provider education.

In 2001 the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations added "requirement to disclose unanticipated outcomes" to accreditation standards. Full disclosure increases patient satisfaction and trust in physicians. Though studies suggest elements of complete disclosure, there are no national standards.