Work anxiety factors, coronavirus anxiety and job satisfaction of Polish nurses facing COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

BACKGROUND: During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, as in past disasters and emergencies, nurses around the world play an important role. What is more, the unprecedented pressure exerted by the pandemic on healthcare systems in every country brings big challenges to nurses, which may affect their well-being, work efficacy and job satisfaction. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the presented studies was to describe anxiety factors related to the work of nurses during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic; to assess the intensity of coronavirus anxiety and job satisfaction experienced by nurses at that time; to assess predictors of job satisfaction of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic; to assess the differences in the intensity of job satisfaction and coronavirus anxiety depending on the selected variables related to their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: Anonymous questionnaire surveys were conducted online among the participants between 23 June 2020 and 23 March 2022 in Poland. PARTICIPANTS: 433 nurses from 15 Polish provinces were included in the studies (age range 22-68; M = 41.63). Nursing seniority M = 18.6. METHODS: The studies were based on: Satisfaction with Job Scale (SSP), Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), and a self-report structured questionnaire. RESULTS: The most respondents indicated that they were afraid of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 (25.4 %), transmitting infection to the family (22.4 %), becoming sick with COVID-19 and experiencing health complications (6.7 %) and of excessive work responsibilities and physical fatigue (6.5 %). Based on the bivariate correlation, it can be concluded that job satisfaction of the respondents during the COVID-19 pandemic was on an average level (M = 19.9); coronavirus anxiety was on an average level (M = 4.9), and stress at work was on a high level (M = 7.1). Coronavirus anxiety did not constitute statistically significant predictors of job satisfaction of subjects studied during the pandemic (SE = 0,048; ß = 0,05; p = 0.942). CONCLUSIONS: Coronavirus anxiety wasn't associated with job satisfaction of nurses directly. Job satisfaction of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic was likely to be shaped by a range of different factors. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: In Polish nurses coronavirus anxiety was average and wasn't associated with their job satisfaction.

Sense of coherence and strategies for coping with stress among nurses.

BACKGROUND: The nursing profession is associated with constant presence of difficult situations and stress, which arise from responsibility for the highest values - human life and health. With demographic changes in the society, the demand for nursing care increases. Looking after the health of nursing staff becomes a non-material investment in employees. One of the most important health potentials described in literature is the sense of coherence. It can significantly contribute to maintaining good health, modify one's functioning in a stressful working environment and influence the choice of strategies for coping with stress. AIM: The aim of the study was to describe the specific relationship between the sense of coherence and strategies for coping with stress in a group of professionally active nurses. METHODOLOGY AND METHODS: The study involved 91 nurses in central Poland, aged 22-52. The group was diversified in terms of: education, work system, marital status and place of residence. The study was conducted with the use of: Sense of Coherence Questionnaire SOC-29 and Inventory to Measure Coping Strategies with Stress - Mini-COPE. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of scientific research set out in the Helsinki Declaration. RESULTS: The sense of coherence value in the test group was M = 134.24 (SD = 19.55). In stressful situations nurses most often used active strategies to cope with stress: Planning M = 2.10 (SD = 0.54), Seeking Emotional Social Support M = 1.95 (SD = 0.68) and Seeking Instrumental Social Support M = 1.95 (SD = 0.69), and the least frequently: Alcohol/Drug Use M = 0.28 (SD = 0.48). The level of the sense of coherence and its components differentiated the strategies of coping with stress used in the examined group of nurses. CONCLUSIONS: The research confirmed that the sense of coherence serves as a health potential in a stressful working environment - a high sense of coherence translate into better mental health, correct functioning in the working environment, and using adaptive strategies of coping with stress. Nurses with a stronger sense of coherence used more adaptive strategies to deal with stress than those with average or low levels.

Nurses' sense of coherence and stress management strategies against the types of health status.

AIM: The main objective of this paper was to establish types of health status in the group of practicing nurses. DESIGN: Positive psychology defines human health as the underlying resource for all life activities, including professional work. Practicing nurses are exposed to a variety of professional pressures, most notably high-stress burden. Long-term functioning in conditions of work-related overburden and stress may compromise the health status of nurses and make them vulnerable to somatic or psychosomatic conditions. METHODS: In this study, we used original worksheets for collecting socio-economic data and health-related data, Orientation to Life Questionnaire (SOC-29), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), Brief COPE Inventory (Mini-COPE) and the somatic symptom scale. K-means clustering analysis for cases was used to identify types of health status among the surveyed nurses. RESULTS: This survey discovered that specific types of health status can be distinguished among practicing nurses. The nurses represented various types of health status, levels of the sense of coherence and the use of stress management strategies.