The role of fear in the relationship between vicarious violence at work and work ability in nurses: A cross-sectional study.

Fear is a powerful emotion that can influence future behavior. This study investigated how fear influences the relationship between vicarious violence at work and employees' work ability. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study. Self-report data were collected from 154 Portuguese nurses who completed an online survey. Statistical significance of the indirect effect was based on bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. The results support the mediation model. Those who observe/hear of others being beaten or threatened experience strong affective reactions, such as fear, which in turn has a negative impact on the assessment of their work ability. We suggest that occupational safety and health programs designed to prevent violence at work take into account those who experience violence at work vicariously and include strategies and interventions focused on affective reactions to minimize the negative effects of vicarious violence at work, with benefits in employees' improved ability to work.

Impact of Psychological Aggression at the Workplace on Employees' Health: A Systematic Review of Personal Outcomes and Prevention Strategies.

Psychological aggression perpetrated by customers, coworkers, and supervisors is a behavior frequently experienced in the workplace with negative consequences for an individual's health. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the personal outcomes of overt workplace psychological aggression and summarize empirical evidence on how to prevent and reduce its effects. A search on PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, and Web of Science electronic databases was made. Data were obtained from 30 studies (26 cross-sectional, 3 longitudinal, 1 quasi-experimental) representing 20,683 employees. Longitudinal studies indicated that workplace psychological aggression is significantly associated with musculoskeletal injury and psychological strains (anxiety, depression, anger) over time. Research also suggests that psychological aggression at work predicts fear, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment, and physical symptoms, for example. Additionally, the information collected suggested that support from coworkers, supervisors, and management; informational support; political skills; job resources; and confidence to prevent and respond to aggression moderate significantly the impact of workplace psychological aggression on personal and organizational outcomes. Perceptions of a violence-prevention climate, aggression-preventive supervisor behavior, and aggression-preventive employee effort are also significantly associated with a reduction in psychological aggression at work and strains. In conclusion, this review allows us to understand the effects of the psychological aggression by identifying the preventive strategies that could be adopted by managers, supervisors, or leaders to deal with it and promote individual's health in the workplace.

Portuguese Version of the 12-Item Violence Prevention Climate Scale: Test of Psychometric Properties.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A violence prevention climate is critical for nurses' well-being but also for nursing practice and the quality of care. This study examined the reliability and factor validity of the European Portuguese version of the 12-item Violence Prevention Climate Scale (VPCS). METHODS: Data came from a sample of 120 nurses providing care in Portugal. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the structural theory of the scale. RESULTS: First and second-order confirmatory factor analysis models showed identical goodness-of-fit suggesting the adequacy of the models to the sample data. Our results also provide evidence of composite reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with previous studies, data from this study showed that the Portuguese version of the 12-item VPCS is a reliable and valid scale to evaluate nurses' perceptions of a violence prevention climate.

Effectiveness of psycho-educational interventions with telecommunication technologies on emotional distress and quality of life of adult cancer patients: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: To provide a comprehensive review of psycho-educational interventions using telecommunication technologies developed for adult cancer patients, assessing their effectiveness in reducing emotional distress and improving quality of life (QoL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A narrative approach was used for extraction and synthesis of the data. Relevant studies were identified through the electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection (through EBSCOhost), and CENTRAL. RESULTS: Eight studies involving 1016 participants met inclusion criteria. The majority of the studies included (n = 6) used a randomized design and were published between 2007 and 2016. Interventions used a variety of delivery resources, such as telephone, e-mail and websites, but all were aiming to respond to information needs and develop stress control skills. A trend toward reducing distress and improving QoL was found, but estimated effect sizes were typically small (d < 0.5). Telephonically delivered psycho-educational interventions presented the highest between-group effects on these outcomes during survival, but were limited by sample size. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of interventions using distance approaches in the cancer setting is still not well-established. Further research should be conducted through well-designed studies with more interactive features that minimize the lack of face-to-face interaction. Implications for rehabilitation Rehabilitation professionals working in the field of oncology should invest in the development of psycho-educational interventions responding the patients' educational needs and promoting their stress control skills. Programs using telecommunications technologies may reduce disparities in service delivery within this setting, minimizing geographic and socio-economic barriers to engagement in the interventions. With the current technological development, it is possible to perform more interactive interventions that stimulate therapist-patient interactions. However, available protocols in this field still employ basic resources (e.g., websites, e-mail, and videos). Young adult cancer patients are exposed to additional requirements related to fertility and parenthood. New intervention approaches should consider their informational needs.