Association Between Nursing Discussions, Resilience, Workplace Social Support and Burnout: A Quantitative Study in Japan.

Background: Although it is known that resilience is negatively associated with burnout, and that certain interventions can effectively increase resilience, little is known about online resilience-enhancing interventions during the COVID-19 crisis. The aim of this study was to identify the association between an online resilience-enhancing intervention and workplace social support, and burnout among nurses working in the mainland and remote islands of Japan during the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: Pretest-posttest was conducted between April 2020 and February 2021, and the questionnaire survey included the bidimensional resilience scale, the Japanese version of Pine's Burnout Measure, and the workplace social support scale. Changes in burnout, resilience, and social support and the associations with nursing discussions as intervention were analyzed. Participants were 98 Nurses with 1 to 10 years of experience from Japan's mainland and remote island hospitals of Kagoshima Prefecture participated in a baseline survey in April 2020. Of these, 76 participated in a secondary survey in September 2020, and 69 participated in the intervention program and a third survey in February 2021. The online intervention over Zoom consisted of small-group nursing discussions based on the broaden-and-build theory. Results: Changes in burnout showed a significant negative association with change in workplace social support (Coef. = -0.019, 95% CI -0.035- -0.003), as did the interaction between change in acquired resilience and intervention (Coef. = -0.088, 95% CI -0.164- -0.011). Conclusion: Change in workplace social support was significantly negatively associated with changes in burnout, as was the interaction of intervention and acquired resilience. Promotion of this intervention and making workplace social support more accessible may contribute to reduce burnout in nurses.

Relationship between changes in the public health nurses' workforce and the empirical Bayes estimates of standardized mortality ratio: a longitudinal ecological study of municipalities in Japan.

BACKGROUND: The role of public health nurses (PHNs) in the community is expected to become increasingly important, along with the promotion of a comprehensive community care system. However, a comprehensive study of all municipalities is yet to be undertaken, and the relationship between the workforce of PHNs and health indicators is yet to be clarified. This study examined the effect of workforce change among PHNs, one of the structural indicators of PHNs' activities regarding changes in the empirical Bayes estimate of standardized mortality ratios (EBSMRs). METHODS: An ecological study was conducted using municipality-level aggregate data. The data used were publicly available Japanese government statistics. The first-difference model of panel data analysis was used to examine the relationship between changes in EBSMR and changes in the number of PHNs per 100,000 population from 2010 to 2015, adjusting for the effects of population and other healthcare resources, including the number of physicians, medical clinics, general hospitals, and welfare facilities. The variation by the 47 prefectures was added to the linear model as a random effect. We also performed a sensitivity analysis using the full Bayesian inference using the Besag-York-Mollie model. RESULTS: For males, EBSMRs for all causes and malignant neoplasms significantly decreased with an increase in the number of PHNs per population (coefficients: -1.00 and -0.89, p values: 0.008 and 0.043, respectively). For females, although all EBSMRs except malignant neoplasms showed decreased tendencies due to the increase in the number of PHNs per population, none of them were significant. The full Bayesian inference confirmed these associations. CONCLUSIONS: An increase in the number of PHNs per population was significantly associated with a greater reduction in deaths from all causes and malignant neoplasms in males. The results of the full Bayesian inference also suggest that the workforce of PHNs may be related to changes in standardized mortality ratios for deaths from all causes in females.

The Effects of Resilience and Related Factors on Burnout in Clinical Nurses, Kagoshima, Japan.

Background: Burnout, due to extreme mental and physical fatigue, and emotional exhaustion, leads to decreased nursing quality and turnover. However, not all nurses are observed as burnouts in the same work environment, and resilience and related factors may have effects on the development of burnouts. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study to examine the effects of resilience and related factors on the burnout in clinical nurses, Kagoshima, Japan. Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study involving nurses (n = 98) was collected using the following questionnaire surveys: the Bidimensional Resilience Scale, The Workplace Social Support Scale, and the Japanese version of the Pine's Burnout Scale. Using burnout as a dependent variable, analyses were conducted using one-way analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis after adjusted for related factors. Results: The prevalence of burnouts was 19.6% on the mainland and 36.1% on remote island. Innate resilience, acquired resilience, workplace social support, and burnout showed no significant difference between nurses on the mainland and remote island. In the mainland participants, innate resilience (ß = -0.492, P < 0.001) and acquired resilience (ß = -0.325, P = 0.007) showed a negative association with burnout, and similar associations were observed innate resilience (ß = -0.520, P = 0.004) and acquired resilience (ß = -0.336, P = 0.057) in the remote island participants. For all participants, innate resilience (ß = -0.443, P = 0.001) and workplace social support (ß = -0.204, P = 0.031) showed a negative association with burnout, and turnover intention was positively associated (ß = 0.025, P = 0.021). Conclusion: A negative association between burnout and innate resilience factors was observed in the mainland and remote island. Further evaluation of innate resilience is necessary for burnout prevention in clinical nurses.

Association between the Perception of Behavior Change and Habitual Exercise during COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey in Japan.

In general, the perception of behavior change may be associated with habitual exercise. However, this association might not be well-understood due to the state of emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study collected data from 1499 internet users aged 20-86 years living in Japan who participated in the online survey from 26 to 27 February 2021. Having a perception of behavior change was defined as preparation, action, and maintenance of the transtheoretical model. The habitual exercise was defined as 600 metabolic equivalent min/week or more based on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratio of habitual exercise and a 95% confidence interval was estimated after adjusting for related factors. We found that perception of behavior change was positively associated with habitual exercise (adjusted odds ratio = 2.41, 95%CI = 1.89-3.08), and similar associations were found in states of emergency (2.69, 1.97-3.69) and non-emergency (2.01, 1.34-3.01). Moreover, women were negatively associated in all analyses with habitual exercise compared to men (0.63, 0.49-0.80; 0.65, 0.44-0.96; 0.62, and 0.45-0.84, respectively). Thus, the perception of behavior change may be involved in the implementation of habitual exercise, suggesting that women face difficulties in engaging in habitual exercise.

[Relationship between the manpower of full-time and part-time public health nurses and standardized mortality ratios: An ecological study in municipalities in Japan].

Objectives　The purpose of this ecological study was to clarify the relationship between the manpower of full-time and part-time public health nurses (PHNs) and standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) in municipalities in Japan.Methods　We divided 1,225 municipalities with a population over 10,000 for which SMRs were officially published into two groups based on whether the municipality had established a public health center (PHC): general municipalities and PHC-established cities. A linear mixed model was used to examine the relationships among the number of full-time PHNs; cumulative total number of workdays for part-time PHNs; and other healthcare and social welfare resources for SMRs for all causes, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular disease, and heart disease.Results　A higher cumulative total number of workdays for part-time PHNs was significantly associated with lower SMRs in both groups for all causes (males and females), lower SMRs in the general municipalities for malignant neoplasms (males) and heart disease (males), and lower SMRs in PHC-established cities for malignant neoplasms (males and females). The number of full-time PHNs had no effect on SMRs.Conclusion　This study suggested that an increase in the manpower of municipal PHNs improves the health and wellbeing of residents.

Public Health Nurses' Activities for Suicide Prevention in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: Suicide is a major health issue worldwide, including in Japan. Japanese public health nurses (PHNs) play a distinctive role in suicide prevention, although few studies have delineated this role. The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual framework that elucidates PHNs' activities for suicide prevention. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2012-2013 with 15 PHNs who worked in Tokyo metropolitan regions. Data were analyzed qualitatively using grounded theory, and a conceptual framework with seven categories was developed. RESULTS: Three phases that depict the PHNs' suicide prevention activities emerged. Phase I, Pursuing to understand suicide cases, included two categories: tracing back individual suicide cases and raising consciousness among the general public. Phase II, Spreading a web of care, included three categories: knitting a caring network, weaving regular programs into the web, and continuing to be a member of the web. Phase III, Maintaining motivation and commitment, included two categories: legitimatizing suicide prevention and cultivating continued commitment in the community. CONCLUSION: The activities of suicide prevention by PHNs included a process of developing a caring network that lead to the enhancement of the caring capacity of the community as a whole.

Nurse risk managers' criteria for dealing with near-miss events.

From the preventive point of view, it is very valuable for Japanese hospital safety managers to select important cases not only from among accident events, but also from near-miss events that involve errors that may result in the occurrence of future serious adverse events. The objective of this study is to investigate factors that determine the type of analysis that applies to hypothetical near-miss events. We sent self-administered questionnaires to 393 nurse risk managers from general hospitals in Japan. Hypothetical near-miss events were presented, and respondents assessed hypothetical events. Type of Analysis, Probability, Organizational Risk (effect on reputation and effect on cost), and Severity (possibility of harm, degree of harm, possibility of recovery, and possibility of delayed discharge) were included in the questionnaire. Response rate was 47.3% (186/393) and finally 175 nurses are analyzed. The respondents were 58 full-time safety managers (33.1%) and 117 who were safety managers concurrently with other work (66.9%). As a result of logistic regression analysis, probability, effect on reputation, possibility of harm and possibility of delayed discharge were significant (p < 0.05). Japanese safety managers consider near-miss events that have a lower probability to be more important. This finding differs from existing prioritization systems that were principally made for actual adverse events. It may suggest the problem of uncritically applying scales for accident events to near-miss events.

Determinants of nursing service in urban public hospitals: an economic perspective.

The purpose of the present study was to analyze the determinants of nurse staffing in urban public hospitals in Japan. The study sample included 51 public hospitals in 23 urban cities in 1996. Structural equation modeling was performed using the following: nurse-to-inpatient ratio; medical service and hospitalization fees; approved nurse staffing level; outpatient-to-inpatient ratio; subsidy-to-hospital-revenue ratio; and regional variation index of inpatient service expenditures. The nurse-to-inpatient ratio was associated with medical service fees reflecting patients' acuity levels and the subsidy-to-hospital-revenue ratio, but was not associated with the hospital income from hospitalization fees (the largest share of which consists of nursing fees). Public hospitals in areas with limited inpatient care resources had a higher level of approved nurse staffing and a higher subsidy-to-hospital-revenue ratio. A significant determinant of public hospitals' nurse staffing was local government-funded subsidization rather than the balance between nursing service fees and costs.