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INTRODUCTION: A significant reorganization of working activities including those of teaching hospitals occurred after COVID-19 outbreak, leading to the need to re-assess the current status of training after the pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the state of general surgery (GS) residency in Italy. The impact of COVID-19 on GS residents was also assessed. METHODS: Between October and November 2020, an anonymous online survey was distributed to GS residents across Italy. Email addresses were provided by the Regional Committees of the Italian Polyspecialistic Society of Young Surgeons. The residents completed a set of questions regarding their training schedule and three standardized questionnaires to measure burnout and psychological distress. RESULTS: Overall, 1709 residents were contacted and 648 completed the survey. Almost two-thirds of the residents (68.4%, n = 443) reported to not reach the minimum annual operative case volume. According to ordinal logistic regression analysis, two of the most perceived effects of COVID-19 by trainees on training were reduction of surgical activities (OR = 2.21, p < 0.001) and increased concerns about future employment (OR = 1.14, p = 0.025). Loss of training opportunities was also associated with a significant increase of distress (OR = 1.26, p = 0.003) but not with burnout. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided a snapshot of the situation of GS residents in Italy after COVID-19 outbreak. Reduction of activities due to pandemic highlighted the need to improve the level of surgical education in our country by implementing all the new available tools for training and ensuring at the same time the well-being of the residents.
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The aim of this study was to ascertain the level of occupational stress before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, how it changed, and its association with health outcomes of hospital workers in the Recôncavo of Bahia, Brazil. A longitudinal study was conducted with 218 hospital workers over 18 years old. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for collecting sociodemographic, occupational, lifestyle, anthropometric, and health data. The main exposures were occupational stress, assessed through Job Content Questionnaire and classified according to the Demand-Control Model and reported shift work. Health outcomes considered were nutritional status assessed by Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), and Body Fat Percentage (BF%); health self-perception; and cardiovascular risk factors. We used McNemar chi-squared or Wilcoxon tests to compare levels of exposure and outcome variables before and during the pandemic, and odds ratios to evaluate associations between changes in occupational stress and shiftwork with health outcomes. During the pandemic, participants reported increased occupational stress and shift work, lower self-perceived health, and had higher BMI and cardiovascular risk factors, compared with before the pandemic. No association was observed between change in occupational stress and health outcomes. However, increased amount of shift work was related to increased BMI in the overall sample (OR 3.79, CI95% 1.40-10.30), and in health workers (OR 11.56; CI95% 2.57-52.00). These findings support calls to strengthen labour policies to ensure adequate working conditions for hospital workers in context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of occupational stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance on the level of fatigue among public health nurses (PHNs). DESIGN: The study had a cross-sectional, correlational survey design. MEASURES: A total of 198 PHNs were enrolled from 30 public healthcare centers/offices. Data were collected between May and July 2021 using a structured questionnaire to investigate the general characteristics, occupational stress, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, and fatigue of the participants. Descriptive statistics and multiple regressions were used to determine fatigue and its influencing factors among PHNs. RESULTS: The participants showed high fatigue and occupational stress levels due to a lack of rewards. The percentage of participants with mild-to-severe anxiety and mild-to-severe depression, and those who identified themselves as poor sleepers were 44.9%, 50.5%, and 70.2%, respectively. High levels of sleep disturbance (ß = .23, p < .001), occupational stress (ß = .21, p < .001), anxiety (ß = .20, p = .016), depression (ß = .17, p = .043), being younger (ß = -.15, p = .004), and being a regular worker (ß = .13, p = .017) were influencing factors of fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: Individual efforts and organizational interventions to enhance sleep quality are needed to relieve fatigue among PHNs. Further, organizational support can be considerate of young nurses and regular workers, and alleviate their occupational stress. Moreover, anxiety and depression should be managed efficiently to reduce fatigue.
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Burnout is a healthcare concern affecting physicians around the world. Physicians experiencing burnout tend to display signs of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment. Ongoing burnout trends have posed numerous challenges to Canadian physicians, notwithstanding the added complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact in recent years. In particular, Canadian radiologists frequently reported experiencing high rates of burnout. This review aims to examine prominent factors affecting burnout in Canadian radiologists and summarize the impact of recent trends. In doing so, the overall wellbeing of Canadian radiologists can be assessed, and strategies for improvement can be discussed as the Canadian healthcare system prepares for new challenges of increasing demand and pressures.
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Integrating work and family demands can be challenging for families caring for a child with one or more disabilities. The pandemic and its changes to work, schooling and service delivery potentially added to these challenges. This exploratory mixed methods study sought to understand how the pandemic affected adoptive parents' work–life fit and service use. A total of 200 participants responded to survey questions about parenting an adopted child with a disability prior to, and after, the onset of Covid‐19. More than half of the parents (59.2%) reported that it was somewhat to very difficult to integrate both work and family demands. Parents with greater access to workplace flexibility and supportive supervisors had significantly less difficulties combining work and family. Families who reported more problems with accessing mental health services, special education and respite care reported significantly more challenges with work–family fit. Parents reported increased stress due to the pandemic changes, but many also shared positive changes such as more time for family. Online services were experienced as effective for some children and reduced time spent driving to appointments. Recommendations for workplace and social service practice and policy supporting adoptive parents of children with disabilities are discussed.
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The rise of the COVID pandemic was a surprise to many. Since Florence Nightingale, society has suffered from various epidemic infectious diseases. This specific educational project was developed because of the stress and the aftereffects experienced by many healthcare workers coping with the working conditions related to COVID. This educational project is important because according to the World Health Organization, a healthy environment is a place for physical, mental, and social well-being, which supports optimal health and safety. Healthcare workers should be provided an educational program to assist them in minimizing stress. Havelock's and Lewin's theory of change was chosen to assist with the project. In addition, an expert panelist which consisted of employees with over 20 years' experience in their field while utilizing the AGREE II score chart was used to evaluate the efficiency of this educational project yielding a means score of 93%. The practice- focused statement for this staff education project was to evaluate and design a staff education program that was accessible for employees. This program was implemented to improve the coping mechanism of the staff, thereby increasing the staff's knowledge, with the goal of reducing stress on the COVID unit. The evidence based on the AGREE II Score experts supports that working in a COVID environment is very stressful and providing a complete education program can reduce the stressors and support a positive social change within this population of healthcare providers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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PurposeAs empirical insights into when salespeople should integrate information and communication technology (ICT) into their sales tasks are limited, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of salespeople's ICT orientation on role stress by considering the interplay of individual salesperson characteristics and the complexity of the selling environment, differentiating between customer and supplier complexity.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop an empirical framework based on the Job Demands-Resources model and previous research in the area of technology in sales. They test their hypotheses by means of a survey of 255 business-to-business salespeople which is analyzed using ordinary least squares regressions.FindingsThe results of this study show that ICT orientation generally helps salespeople to reduce role ambiguity. However, the benefits salespeople derive from ICT orientation to reduce role conflict depend on an interplay of both their job tenure and the average relationship duration with customers as well as the complexity of the selling environment.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research on the impact of technology use on salespeople by enhancing the understanding of contexts that make ICT valuable for them. In particular, the findings of this study demonstrate that the impact of ICT orientation on salespeople's role stress depends on an interplay of individual salesperson characteristics, that is, resources, and environmental complexity characteristics, that is, demands.
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Human Rights are of fundamental significance for all human beings. The domestic violence and work-life balance are two vital elements during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, as a post-pandemic view, many multinational companies continued the work from home business model. The domestic violence because of work from home model boosted during the lockdowns but as a post pandemic scenario, this domestic violence is lowered. The reason behind this is the flexibility in work from home as well as space for every family member. This paper presents the post-pandemic analysis for human right violence and occupational stress levels. Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.
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PurposeThe National Association of Social Workers encourages self-care among practitioners. Self-care may prevent secondary traumatic stress, however, research examining self-care and other employee-related outcomes is dearth. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment are important for client, employee, and agency outcomes, but self-care's role is unclear.MethodsThe relationship between employee self-care practices, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment was considered among 137 practitioners from a single US state during the Covid-19 pandemic.ResultsJob satisfaction was positively correlated with tenure, caring workplaces, and professional self-care. Organizational commitment was positively associated with hours worked, caring work environments, and professional self-care.DiscussionProfessional self-care was the most important self-care domain for job satisfaction and organizational commitment, but the least utilized form of self-care. Findings suggest the need to nurture organizational cultures emphasizing the importance of professional self-care and climates emphasizing employee safety during pandemics.ConclusionReplication among larger samples with representation from gender diverse and BIPOC practitioners is recommended.
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BackgroundThe suicide rate has increased during the pandemic in India. Moreover, several studies, especially press-media reporting suicide studies have been conducted but no systematic review has been attempted in this context. Therefore, the present study systematically investigated the risk factors associated with suicidal behaviors, and the method of suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.MethodsFollowing the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was performed to include papers published up until September 30, 2022. From an initial 144 papers, 18 studies which met the inclusion criteria were included in the present review. The Pierson's method was used for quality assessment of the included studies in the present review.ResultsThe risk factors associated with suicide comprised: (i) socio-demographic factors (e.g., being aged between 31 and 50 years, male, married, unemployed), (ii) behavior and health-related factors (e.g., unavailability of alcohol and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, poor state of physical health and health issues, family disputes, relationship complexities, and sexual harassment), (iii) COVID-19-related factors (e.g., fear of COVID-19, COVID-19 test results, quarantine or isolation, financial hardship due to the pandemic, having influenza-like symptoms, experiencing stigmatization and ostracism despite testing negative, separation from family due to transport restrictions, misinterpreting other illness symptoms as COVID-19, saving the village from infection, watching COVID-19 videos on social media, online schooling, perceived stigma toward COVID-19, and being suspected of having COVID-19), and (iv) psychopathological stressors (depression, loneliness, stress, TikTok addiction, and poor mental health, suicidal tendencies, helplessness, and worrying). Hanging was the most common method of suicide. In addition, jumping from high buildings, poisoning, drowning, burning, cutting or slitting throat or wrists, self-immolation, medication overdose, electrocution, pesticide, and gun-shot were also used to carry out the suicide.ConclusionsFindings from this research suggest multiple reasons for suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic and knowledge of such factors could aid in developing suicide prevention strategies focusing the most vulnerable cohorts inside and outside India.
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Occupational stress is a major challenge in modern societies, related with many health and economic implications. Its automatic detection in an office environment can be a key factor toward effective management, especially in the post-COVID era of changing working norms. The aim of this study is the design, development and validation of a multisensor system embedded in a computer mouse for the detection of office work stress. An experiment is described where photoplethysmography (PPG) and galvanic skin response (GSR) signals of 32 subjects were obtained during the execution of stress-inducing tasks that sought to simulate the stressors present in a computer-based office environment. Kalman and moving average filters were used to process the signals and appropriately formulated algorithms were applied to extract the features of pulse rate and skin conductance. The results found that the stressful periods of the experiment significantly increased the participants' reported stress levels while negatively affecting their cognitive performance. Statistical analysis showed that, in most cases, there was a highly significant statistical difference in the physiological parameters measured during the different periods of the experiment, without and with the presence of stressors. These results indicate that the proposed device can be part of an unobtrusive system for monitoring and detecting the stress levels of office workers.
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COVID-19 , Occupational Stress , Humans , Computers , Heart Rate/physiology , Algorithms , Photoplethysmography , Signal Processing, Computer-AssistedABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: US physicians are at risk for high rates of occupational stress and burnout, which the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified. As approaches targeting physicians' individual resilience have fallen short, researchers are increasingly calling for studies that investigate organizational drivers of stress and burnout. OBJECTIVE: To understand the multi-dimensional systems factors shaping hospital physicians' occupational stress during the pandemic. DESIGN: Qualitative, semi-structured interviews conducted in February-October 2021. SETTING: Hospitals in New York City and New Orleans. PARTICIPANTS: A purposive snowball sample of attending physicians and fellows in hospital medicine, emergency medicine, pulmonary critical care, and palliative care who spent at least 4 weeks providing inpatient COVID-19 care beginning in March 2020 was selected. The sample included 40 physicians from 14 hospitals in New York City and 39 physicians from nine hospitals in New Orleans. APPROACH: Descriptive analysis of participants' self-reported perceptions of occupational stress. KEY RESULTS: Participants identified multiple factors shaping their occupational stress including individual-level factors such as age, work experience, and life stage; institutional-level factors such as resource disparities, institutional type and size, and policies; professional-level factors such as informal rationing and medical uncertainty; and societal-level factors such as the federal response, COVID politics, and social inequalities. Stressors within and across these four levels worked in combination to shape physicians' perceptions of occupational stress at the individual level. CONCLUSIONS: This article contributes to an emergent literature on systems-based approaches to occupational stress and burnout among physicians by demonstrating the intersections among societal conditions, professional cultures, institutional work environments, and individual stress. Findings from semi-structured interviews suggest that interventions to reduce physician stress and burnout may be more effective if they target systems factors and stressors at multiple levels.
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AIM: This study investigated the impact of spiritual intelligence and demographic factors in the prediction of occupational stress, quality of life and coronavirus anxiety among nurses. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was planned. METHODS: The study was conducted among full-time nurses who were employed in two teaching hospitals of Babol city which were referral centres for caring patients infected with COVID-19 from February-May 2021. One hundred and twenty-nine nurses completed five questionnaires including the demographic questions, Quality of life (WHOQOL-BRIF), Occupational Role Questionnaire (ORQ), Spiritual Intelligence and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale. RESULTS: The findings revealed that 69% of the nurses experienced moderate occupational stress, moderate quality of life and low coronavirus anxiety. Spiritual intelligence was the only significant negative predictor of occupational stress (ß = -0.517, p = <0.001). The only positive predictor of quality of life was perceived income adequacy. Predicting factors of coronavirus anxiety were the perceived income adequacy as protective (ß = -0.221, p = 0.022) and the number of children as predisposing (ß = 0.401, p = 0.004) factors. These findings should be considered when planning nursing interventions for improvement of occupational stress, quality of life and anxiety especially during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
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BACKGROUND: Early interventions are needed to support the behavioral health of healthcare staff in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress First Aid (SFA) is a self-care and peer support model for reducing burnout and stress that is designed for use in high-stress occupations. METHODS: We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of an SFA program in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This brief, multi-session, didactic program was adapted for hospital workgroups. Program attendees completed a survey assessing implementation outcomes, burnout, stress, mood, and SFA skills at the beginning (N = 246) and end (n = 94) of the SFA program and a subgroup (n = 11) completed qualitative feedback interviews. FINDINGS: Program acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility were rated highly. From pre- to post-SFA, the impact of the pandemic on stress and anxiety, as well as proficiency in supporting peers increased. Qualitative findings suggest the program provided a shared language to discuss stress, normalized stress reactions, met a need for stress management tools, and helped staff feel valued, empowered, connected with each other. Staff reported being more aware of their stress, but SFA was insufficient to address many of the systemic sources of burnout and stress. CONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONS TO PRACTICE: While the SFA program was well received, the impact of brief programs is likely to be modest when implemented in the middle of an ongoing pandemic and when burnout arises from chiefly from systemic sources. Lessons learned during the program implementation that may guide future efforts are discussed.
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Saǧlik sektörü çalişanlarinin çalişma koşullari gereǧi işlerini yerine getirirken oldukça yiprandiklari bilinmektedir. Ancak Aralik 2019'da ortaya çikan, 2020 yilinin içinde ise tüm dünyayi etkisi altina alan Covid-19 salgini saǧlik çalişanlarinin zaten aǧir olan çalişma koşullarini daha da aǧir ve yipratici bir hale getirmiştir. Bu doǧrultuda bu çalişmanin temel amaci pandemi koşullariyla artan iş stresi ve işten ayrilma niyeti arasindaki ilişkinin tespit edilmesidir. Ayrica iş stresinin çeşitli demografik deǧişkenlere göre farklilaşip farklilaşmadiǧinin tespiti de amaçlanmaktadir. Bu doǧrultuda, araştirmada anket yöntemi kullanilmiş olup araştirma Gümüşhane ilinde saǧlik sektöründe çalişan 273 kişinin katilimiyla ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştirma bulgularina göre iş stresi ile işten ayrilma niyeti arasinda pozitif yönlü anlamli bir ilişki tespit edilmiştir (r=,566;p<0,01). Ayrica katilimcilara ait demografik faktörlerden;cinsiyet, eǧitim düzeyi ve mevcut işyerinde çalişma süresi gibi deǧişkenler ile iş stresi arasinda istatistiksel açidan anlamli bir fark gözlenmemiştir. Ancak katilimcilarin görev/pozisyonlari ile iş stresi arasinda çeşitli düzeylerde anlamli farklilaşmalar tespit edilmiştir.Alternate :It is known that health sector workers get exhausted while performing their jobs due to working conditions. However, the Covid-19 pandemic, which came out in December 2019 and affected the whole world in 2020, has made the already existing heavy working conditions of health workers even heavier and more exhausting. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between increased work stress with the pandemic conditions and the intention to quit. It is also aimed to determine whether work stress differs according to various demographic variables. In this direction, the survey method was used in the study and it was carried out with the participation of 273 people working in the health sector in the city of Gümüshane. According to the findings of the study, a positive and significant relationship was found between work stress and
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BACKGROUND: Front-line nurses caring for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) experience stressful and traumatic working conditions, which may affect their professional quality of life. AIM: To identify the effect of COVID-19 on front-line nurses' professional quality of life, specifically on their levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress. METHOD: A descriptive, cross-sectional comparative design was adopted. Data collection tools included self-reported sociodemographic and work-related characteristics and the self-report Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL). Questionnaires (n=200) were distributed by email to two groups of nurses working in a government hospital in Saudi Arabia: front-line nurses who cared for patients with COVID-19 in isolation units; and front-line nurses who cared for patients without COVID-19 in inpatient units. RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were received from 167 respondents, a response rate of 84%. Moderate levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress were found regardless of respondents' involvement in caring for patients with COVID-19. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic presents a new challenge for front-line nurses, necessitating appropriate interventions to avoid burnout and secondary traumatic stress.
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This longitudinal study aimed to evaluate the association between dietary patterns and the body composition of hospital workers subjected to occupational stressors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on sociodemographic, occupational, lifestyle, anthropometric, food consumption and occupational stress were collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 218 workers from a private hospital in Santo Antônio de Jesus, Bahia, Brazil were included in the study. After evaluating the normality of the data, parametric or non-parametric tests were used to characterize the sample. Dietary pattern was defined with Exploratory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the desired association. During the pandemic, work per shift increased by 8.2% (p = 0.004) and working hours > 40 h/week increased by 9.2% (p = 0.006). Despite the higher prevalence of low occupational stress (85.8% vs. 72.1%), high stress increased by 13.7% from 2019 to 2020 (p < 0.001) and 30.3% reported a positive mediating effect on the variables of body composition, body mass index (b = 0.478; p < 0.001), waist circumference (b = 0.395; p = 0.001), fat-free mass (b = 0.440; p = 0.001) and fat mass (b = -0.104; p = 0.292). Therefore, a dietary pattern containing high-calorie foods was associated with changes in the body composition of hospital workers, including occupational stressors as mediators of this relationship.
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COVID-19 , Occupational Stress , Humans , Pandemics , Longitudinal Studies , COVID-19/epidemiology , Body Composition , HospitalsABSTRACT
PurposeThis study is based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model to examine how job demands and technology overload affect work stress for workers using video conferencing apps (VCAs) in organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the moderating effect of technology self-efficacy was tested in the model on the relationship between technology overload and work stress.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted to investigate workers on PTT forums in Taiwan. A sample was obtained of 253 workers, and structural equation modeling was conducted using AMOS to test the hypotheses.FindingsJob demands positively affect work stress through information overload, communication overload and system feature overload. Moreover, high technology self-efficacy may weaken the relationship between technology overload and work stress.Research limitations/implicationsThe study may have sample bias because our sample was obtained from an online survey on social networking sites. Regarding the theoretical implications, this study demonstrated that technology overload, as an internal organism, is a critical mediator influencing the relationship between job demands (stimulus) and work stress (response). Thus, this study extended the applicability of the SOR model in the context of working with VCAs in organizations.Practical implicationsCompany managers need to effectively control the information amount, communication interruptions and system features of social media at optimum levels for workers. Moreover, companies should recruit workers with high technology self-efficacy or provide technology training and technology-related consulting to those with low technology self-efficacy.Originality/valueThe extant work stress knowledge is extended to workers using VCAs in organizations.
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BackgroundThe suicide rate has increased during the pandemic in India. Moreover, several studies, especially press-media reporting suicide studies have been conducted but no systematic review has been attempted in this context. Therefore, the present study systematically investigated the risk factors associated with suicidal behaviors, and the method of suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.MethodsFollowing the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was performed to include papers published up until September 30, 2022. From an initial 144 papers, 18 studies which met the inclusion criteria were included in the present review. The Pierson's method was used for quality assessment of the included studies in the present review.ResultsThe risk factors associated with suicide comprised: (i) socio-demographic factors (e.g., being aged between 31 and 50 years, male, married, unemployed), (ii) behavior and health-related factors (e.g., unavailability of alcohol and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, poor state of physical health and health issues, family disputes, relationship complexities, and sexual harassment), (iii) COVID-19-related factors (e.g., fear of COVID-19, COVID-19 test results, quarantine or isolation, financial hardship due to the pandemic, having influenza-like symptoms, experiencing stigmatization and ostracism despite testing negative, separation from family due to transport restrictions, misinterpreting other illness symptoms as COVID-19, saving the village from infection, watching COVID-19 videos on social media, online schooling, perceived stigma toward COVID-19, and being suspected of having COVID-19), and (iv) psychopathological stressors (depression, loneliness, stress, TikTok addiction, and poor mental health, suicidal tendencies, helplessness, and worrying). Hanging was the most common method of suicide. In addition, jumping from high buildings, poisoning, drowning, burning, cutting or slitting throat or wrists, self-immolation, medication overdose, electrocution, pesticide, and gun-shot were also used to carry out the suicide.ConclusionsFindings from this research suggest multiple reasons for suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic and knowledge of such factors could aid in developing suicide prevention strategies focusing the most vulnerable cohorts inside and outside India.