Effect of Aromatherapy on Perceived Mental Health Parameters for Academic Department Workers Working From Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study.

Background: Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, medical staff and academic department workers reported increasing levels of stress and burnout because of strain on the health care system. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this strain and introduced several novel stressors, which included transitioning to remote work. Safe and scalable strategies are needed to help health care workers cope with these stressors. Aromatherapy may help address this need. Objectives: To assess the effect of 2 aromatherapy interventions (essential oil blends termed STILL and FOCUS) on perceived mental/psychological health parameters for academic department workers working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants were advised to use STILL for 5 days (Monday through Friday). After a 2-day washout period (Saturday and Sunday), participants were instructed to use FOCUS for 5 days (Monday through Friday). Participants completed a visual analog scale survey evaluating restlessness, fatigue, anxiety, stress, happiness, energy, relaxation, calmness, and well-being before and after each of the 2 intervention periods. Results: Twenty academic department remote workers participated in the study. Mental/psychological health surveys were completed by 6 participants before and after using STILL and by 10 before and after using FOCUS. Five participants answered all survey questions before and after both interventions. Although mean (SD) perceived stress scores improved after both the STILL (4.3 [2.3] vs 1.8 [1.7], P = .03) and FOCUS (2.9 [2.3] vs 1.5 [1.4], P = .02) interventions, this improvement was not statistically significant after Bonferroni correction (adjusted α = .006). Most participants (73.3%) reported that participating in the study was worthwhile, and 81.3% indicated that they would recommend aromatherapy to others. Conclusions: The STILL and FOCUS aromatherapy interventions did not significantly improve mental/psychological health parameters for remote academic department workers, although perceived stress was marginally improved and participants reported a perceived benefit from using aromatherapy.

System-based strategies for mitigating burnout in radiology.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is a chronic problem prevalent in radiology, with a significant burden on individuals and healthcare systems. DISCUSSION: A substantial portion of the literature on managing burnout has focused on individual-based remedies. We posit that burnout is a systemic problem and present an overview of some system-based strategies that could be employed to mitigate burnout in radiology. These include managing workload, optimizing work shifts, maximizing autonomy, limiting work-life conflicts, creating opportunities for professional fulfillment, utilizing user-friendly electronic medical records (EMR), deploying efficient picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), building system redundancy, leadership transparency, and fostering a healthy work environment.  CONCLUSION: System-based strategies can help mitigate burnout.

Development of burnout and moral distress in intensive care nurses: An integrative literature review.

AIMS: To describe, through an integrative literature review, the factors contributing to the development of burnout and moral distress in nursing professionals working in intensive care units and to identify the assessment tools used most frequently to assess burnout and moral distress. METHODS: An integrative literature review was carried out. PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SciELO, Dialnet, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane databases were reviewed from January 2012 to February 2023. Additionally, snowball sampling was used. The results were analysed by using integrative synthesis, as proposed by Whittemore et al., the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme for literature reviews, the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines for quantitative observational studies, and the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for qualitative research were used to evaluate evidence quality. RESULTS: Forty-one articles were selected for review: 36 were cross-sectional descriptive articles, and five were literature reviews. The articles were grouped into five-factor categories: 1) personal factors, 2) organisational factors, 3) labour relations factors, 4) end-of-life care factors, and 5) factors related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey and the Moral Distress Survey-Revised instruments were the most commonly used to measure burnout and moral distress. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights the multiple personal, organisational, relational, situational, and end-of-life factors promoting burnout and moral distress among critical care nurses. Interventions in these areas are necessary to achieve nurses' job satisfaction and retention while improving nurses' quality of care.

Work-Related Quality of Life among Physicians in Poland: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Working in a healthcare setting is associated with high levels of stress and burnout syndrome. Work-related quality of life (WRQoL) remains insufficiently evaluated among physicians. The aim of this study is to assess the WRQoL among physicians of interventional, non-interventional, and diagnostic specialties in Poland. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Standardized and anonymous WRQoL questionnaires have been filled in by 257 physicians working in Silesia, Poland. After the removal of missing data, 246 individuals were stratified in terms of specialties into the appropriate categories, including interventional, non-interventional, and diagnostics. These categories were compared using the following subscales: general well-being (GWB), home-work interface (HWI), job and career satisfaction (JCS), control at work (CAW), working conditions (WCS), and stress at work (SAW). RESULTS: Out of 246 individuals, 132 were women (53.7%) and 112 (45.5%) were men. There were no differences in terms of WRQoL scores (p = 0.220) and subscales GWB (p = 0.148), HWI (p = 0.368), JCS (p = 0.117), CAW (p = 0.224), WCS (p = 0.609), SAW (p = 0.472) between interventional, non-interventional, and diagnostic specialties. The group of young doctors (age ≤ 30 years) had higher JCS scores than the older ones (mean score [SD], 22.7 [3.98] vs. 21 [4.6]; p = 0.013). Physicians who were not working in hospital had higher WRQoL score than respondents working in hospital (p = 0.061), with significant differences in terms of GWB (mean score [SD], 20.3 [4.93] vs. 22.8 [3.2], p = 0.014), HWI (mean score [SD], 9.1 [=2.65] vs. 10.6 [2.73], p = 0.011), and WCS (mean score [SD], 9.5 [2.61] vs. 10.8 [2.54], p = 0.035). CONCLUSION: There were no differences considering overall WRQoL between analyzed groups stratified according to specialty. However, we disclosed a significant association between the respondent's WRQoL and age as well as place of work.

A Nation-Wide Survey of Program Directors at a Large Health Care Organization: Prevalence and Perceptions of Resident Wellness Activities.

Background: This study evaluated wellness programs in a large hospital network to determine residency program directors' (PDs) perspectives on their wellness programs' state, including wellness prioritization, frequency of wellness activities, and wellness' influence on decision-making across organizational levels. Methods: In 2021, 211 PDs were sent surveys on program policies, program implementation frequency, perceptions of the administration's ability to prioritize wellness, funding sources, and perceptions of resident wellness' impact on decision-making. Results: Among 211 contacted programs, 148 surveys were completed (70.1%). The majority reported having wellness programs, committees, and funding. Fewer than 25% reported having a chief wellness officer. PDs perceived that fellow colleagues in their institution linked wellness to markers of institutional success to a greater extent than other available options (ie, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education [ACGME] requirements, budgetary concerns, resident input, core faculty priorities, and education quality). Financial well-being was perceived as least connected to wellness. Perceptions of wellness were rated across 3 organizational levels: program, institution, and organization. Across all levels, ACGME requirements (31.0%-32.8%) and budgetary/financial concerns (21.9%-37.0%) were perceived as having the most significant influence on overall decision-making, whereas resident wellness was rated lower in influence (8.0%-12.2%). Most programs allowed residents to attend mental health appointments without using paid time off (87.9%) and while on duty (83.1%). Conclusion: The frequency of wellness activities varied greatly across programs. PDs reported challenges making resident self-care and personal development a priority and perceived resident wellness as having limited importance to decision-making at higher levels.

The Impact of a 4-Domain Wellness-Initiative Curriculum on Internal Medicine Resident Physicians.

Background: There is a trend toward fostering well-being, or the state of being happy and healthy, within the medical community. Historically, resident physicians have faced high rates of distress during training. A structured well-being curriculum in residency programs may shift residents' mindsets from survival and resilience to one centered on purpose, engagement, and joy. Methods: An original well-being curriculum was administered to residents in person at a single institution every 5 weeks for approximately 10 well-being workshops, totaling around 20 hours of curriculum exposure during every academic year. The well-being curriculum was divided into 4 domains: cognitive distortions and problematic mindsets, mindfulness and meditation, creative outlets, and self-compassion.Residents exposed to at least 1 year of the well-being curriculum were asked to answer an anonymous survey. Four questions were asked for each of the 4 domains. The first and second questions asked how familiar they were with the topic before and after the workshops on a scale of 1-5 of familiarity. The third and fourth questions asked how much the knowledge acquired influenced their professional and personal life on a scale of 1-5 of influence. Results: Before curriculum exposure, the average for moderate or higher levels of knowledge across all domains was 22.7%, which improved to 77.3% after curriculum completion. Overall, 58.6% of participants felt the knowledge of the domains was moderately or extremely influential in their professional lives and 83.6% in their personal lives. There were no significant differences between post-graduate year 2 and post-graduate year 3 residents for any domains examined before and after the wellness workshops. Conclusion: A 4-domain well-being curriculum practiced in a group setting positively impacted participating residents in their personal and professional lives. Further studies need to be performed on a larger scale to assess if the curriculum fits the needs of the broader medical community.

A Multi-Wave Study of Factors Associated With Resident Engagement, Depression, Burnout, and Stay Intent.

Background: Many studies have documented the epidemic of mental ill-being among resident physicians, but fewer have focused on mental well-being or on guiding intervention design to make progress toward positive change in residency programs to support resident thriving. Informed by the job demands-resources model (JD-R) and positive psychology, the current study examines 4 potential predictors of residents' ill-being (burnout, depression) and well-being (engagement, stay intent) that are malleable and thus capable of change through intervention: psychological capital (PsyCap), supervising physicians' autonomy-supportive leadership style (ASL), social support, and meaningful work. Methods: Three waves of data were collected between November 2017 and September 2018 at a large hospital system in the United States. Due to participant response rates, we were unable to conduct a planned longitudinal analysis. Therefore, for each wave, Bayesian regression analyses were used to examine cross-sectional relationships between the 4 predictors and each outcome. Results: Although findings varied across the study's 3 waves, the outcomes were largely as expected. With only 1 exception (depressive symptoms in Wave 2), meaningful work significantly predicted all outcome variables in the expected direction across all 3 waves. PsyCap significantly predicted burnout, depressive symptoms, and engagement in the expected direction across all 3 waves. ASL significantly predicted engagement in the expected direction across all 3 waves, as well as depressive symptoms and stay intent in 2 waves, and burnout in 1 wave. Social support significantly negatively predicted depressive symptoms in all 3 waves and burnout in 1 wave. Conclusion: Applying the JD-R framework and a positive psychology lens can open new pathways for developing programming to support resident thriving. Meaningful work, PsyCap, ASL, and social support all significantly predicted 1 or more outcomes related to resident thriving (burnout, depression, engagement, stay intent) across all 3 waves. Thus, this study provides theoretical and practical implications for future intervention studies and designing current programming for resident thriving.

Exercise Is a Vital Sign.

Description In this review, we argue that exercise (physical activity) be monitored as a vital sign since no other basic sign or symptom provides as much information about a patient's health status. The influence of regular exercise on patient health is indisputable, with strong evidence to show the power of exercise to mitigate chronic disease and improve overall health. Several simple tools, such as Physical Activity as a Vital Sign and Exercise as a Vital Sign are available to assess patient physical activity. When properly applied, there is evidence to support the efficacy of these tools, but there are barriers that prevent broad inclusion in primary care, among which are time and provider knowledge. In our review, we also discussed the value of physician-led lifestyle discussions with patients and found they view these discussions favorably. There is also evidence that physicians who exercise are more likely to have these lifestyle discussions with their patients, but the proportion of physicians who exercise regularly is fairly low. We believe physicians' awareness of their patients' sedentary lifestyles should prompt a prescription to increase physical activity, but additional in-clinic support and community resources need to be in place for patients to get a regular dose.

Burnout and Health Scores Among Residency Programs as an Indicator of Wellness.

Background: With long hours, significant responsibilities, and a heavy workload, residency can be an incredibly stressful experience. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of residency on mental health and wellness. A secondary aim was to determine if the post-graduate year (PGY) of the different residents impacted their mental health or ability to cope with the stressors of residency. Methods: Residents in anesthesiology, family medicine, internal medicine, and surgery were invited to complete a survey. The first portion of the survey had residents rank their mental health on a scale from 1 to 5. There was also a short-form answer portion, which collected suggestions on how to improve wellness. An analysis of variance was used to compare the means of 2 continuous outcome variables-Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and burnout scores compared across specialties and post-graduate years. Burnout scores were measured using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. This survey was created and validated by psychology researchers to assess burnout based on the strongest indicators of burnout-emotional exhaustion and disengagement from work. The PHQ9 survey was chosen as it has a specificity of 91-94% and is a reliable method to screen for depression, a common companion to burnout. Results: PHQ9 scores were highest among surgery residents (7.2 ± 7.07), followed by anesthesia (6.59 ± 6.64), emergency medicine (5.57 ± 4.09), and internal medicine (4.82 ± 3.68). Scoring was also higher among PGY4-6 residents. Burnout scores were highest among surgery (37.8 ± 8.69) and anesthesia (38.17 ± 7.09) residents and among PGY4-6 residents. PGY4-6 residents had a mean burnout score of 38.55 ± 7.67 compared to 36.17 ± 8.69 among first-year residents. Similarly, the P value noted no significant difference among burnout scores across either specialty or year: .5930 and .8061. Conclusion: There was no significant difference among specialties or years in training among their subjective ratings of depression.

The Feasibility and Impact of an Asynchronous Interprofessional Well-Being Course on Burnout in Health Care Professionals.

Background: Well-being initiatives are essential components in fostering an engaged workforce and creating an effective health care ecosystem. Health care professional (HCP) burnout is widespread and has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2014, with Health Resources and Services Administration funding support, the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine created an online course for HCP well-being. It was subsequently studied in medical residents and revised in 2020. In this study, we explore the impact of the course across larger systems, as well as the long-term impact on HCPs. Methods: The Health Care Professional Well-Being course is 4.5 hours of interactive online education that explores personal well-being, promoters and detractors of well-being, and systemic factors that influence the overall impact of well-being in health care systems. Participants were recruited through institutional members of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health and were randomized to either active or waitlist control groups. Assessments were taken pre-course, 1-month post-course, and 6-months post-course in the areas of burnout, compassion, resiliency, and lifestyle behaviors. Results: Burnout measures of depersonalization and emotional exhaustion showed a significant improvement amongst active participants, sustained for 6 months after the course. However, no significant improvement in either the resiliency or the compassion measurements was noted for the active group. Initially, the active group showed improvement in personal accomplishment; however, both groups showed a decline overall. Most noteworthy, a large number of active participants demonstrated adoption of new health-promoting behavior; 95% incorporated at least 1 new lifestyle behavior learned from the course. Conclusion: This study of a brief, asynchronous, online well-being course with interprofessional HCPs, demonstrates that the course is associated with improvement in individual burnout measures and can educate HCPs about healthy behaviors and a framework for professional engagement.

The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Resident Education and Burnout.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the residency experience for physicians across all specialties. There have been studies examining resident perspectives on changes in curriculum and clinical experiences due to the pandemic; however, little research has been conducted on how residents in different specialties interpreted their educational experience and rates of burnout during the pandemic. Methods: We extended surveys to 281 residents across 15 separate residency programs between November 17, 2020, and December 20, 2020. The questions pertained to burnout and the effects of the pandemic on their careers. Differences between general and specialty medicine resident responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The final analysis included 105 responses (40% response rate). We received 62 surveys (59%) from general medicine residents and 43 surveys (41%) from specialty medicine residents, with a higher response rate from junior level trainees in both groups. We found no significant differences between general and specialty residents on the level of burnout, impact on clinical experience, or future career due to COVID-19, though there was a significant difference between resident groups on the perceived impact of COVID-19 on learning. Conclusion: Specialty medicine residents reported a negative perception of the pandemic's impact on their learning during residency suggesting a greater impact on training than was perceived by the general medicine residents. Residents from general and specialty medicine programs reported similar levels of burnout and similar perceptions of the pandemic's impact on their clinical experience and future career prospects. Understanding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on resident education and well-being should serve graduate medical education administrators well and prepare them for future interruptions in the traditional learning process.

Mitigating Workplace Burnout Through Transformational Leadership and Employee Participation in Recovery Experiences.

Description Burnout is a complex organizational phenomenon that diminishes employee well-being and overall organizational productivity. Researchers propose that leadership style contributes to employees' well-being, which impacts employee productivity. Organizations and leaders must address the causes of burnout and promote techniques employees can use to mitigate burnout, such as employee participation in recovery experiences. Recovery experiences are non-work activities that create positive outlooks and restore the energy needed to focus on one's work. This literature review examines current research in employee recovery experiences, conservation of resource theory (COR), burnout, and transformational leadership theory. Studying burnout through the lens of COR shows how important resource gain and recovery activities are to healthy employees and their job performance within the organization. The research reviewed suggests that transformational and transactional leadership styles have higher probabilities of promoting employee participation in recovery experiences than passive avoidant leadership style. The literature consistently showed burnout as a significant organizational phenomenon negatively affecting productivity, employee well-being, and turnover rates. The literature revealed that mitigating burnout happens through participation in recovery experiences. The literature on leadership styles supports the assumption that leaders play a significant role in employee well-being, group identity, and organizational climate. Leaders who desire to mitigate employee burnout will benefit from research that links transformational leadership style behaviors and employee participation in recovery activities.

Professional Burnout and Career Choice Regret in Urology Residents.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: High rates of professional burnout and career choice regret among urology residents may increase professional dissatisfaction, shorten career longevity, and exacerbate urology workforce shortages. Understanding the prevalence of and risk factors for burnout may help develop interventions. RECENT FINDINGS: Up to 48% of contemporary U.S. urology residents experience burnout symptoms, including up to 70% of second-year residents. Among overlapping personal, professional, institutional, and lifestyle risk factors, barriers to accessing medical and mental health care are frequently cited as an important association in residents. Limited intervention studies suggest that providing basic needs, such as on-call meals, and facilitating physical wellness and social engagement among residents may result in sustained reductions in burnout. Urology residents continue to experience high rates of burnout and career choice regret among medical specialties. Evidence-based interventions and sustainable policies that address primary risk factors are urgently needed.

Prevalence of burnout among physiotherapists: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Work-related burnout is a significant concern amongst healthcare professionals, including physiotherapists. It can negatively impact on both staff well-being and the quality of care delivered to patients. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of burnout among physiotherapists. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus and PsycINFO, from inception to February 1st, 2022. STUDY SELECTION OR ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Studies reporting burnout prevalence among physiotherapists. DATA EXTRACTION AND DATA SYNTHESIS: Prevalence of burnout. Sub-analyses were performed grouping studies based on countries where surveys were conducted, classified as developed or developing countries. The risk of bias was assessed using a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. RESULTS: 32 studies were included in the systematic review and 31 in the meta-analysis, enrolling a total of 5984 physiotherapists from 17 countries. Pooled prevalence (95% confidence interval) of burnout was 8% (4-15). Prevalence figures for Maslach Burnout Inventory dimensions were: (i) emotional exhaustion, 27% (21-34) (ii) depersonalization, 23% (15-32) (iii) low personal accomplishment, 25% (15-40). Both overall and single components prevalence was higher, although not significantly, in studies from developing than in developed countries. LIMITATIONS: Tools used to assess burnout and cut-off scores chosen to identify the burnout prevalence differed across studies. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS OF KEY FINDINGS: Prevalence of burnout reported by physiotherapists appears high worldwide, in particular in developing countries, and compares with that reported by nurses and physicians. Substantial heterogeneity in the prevalence of burnout, in its definition and assessment methods across studies, and limited quality of most studies precludes drawing definitive conclusions. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42022307876 CONTRIBUTION OF THE PAPER.

Exploring staff experiences and perceptions of patient-perpetrated violence in hospital settings: A qualitative study.

AIMS: To explore hospital staff experiences and perceptions of patient-perpetrated violence. DESIGN: Descriptive qualitative study. METHODS: Twelve semi-structured interviews (June-August 2022) were held with a diverse sample of hospital nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, security and a non-clinical manager. The framework approach was used to organise and analyse data, using Attribution Theory as a theoretical lens. RESULTS: Three themes were identified: violence as (un)predictable, violence as (un)preventable and the cumulative toll of violence. In making sense of why patients become violent, participants described different 'types' of aggressive patients and variably attributed behaviours to situation, disposition or a combination of both. Regardless of perceived causal factors, staff overwhelmingly appeared to view violence as predictable. Participants also reflected on the wider structural problems underpinning violence, frequently alluding to their sense of relative powerlessness to initiate change. The cumulative toll of violence was a common thread, with staff describing their acquisition of 'resilience' and reflecting on its role in their responses to escalating situations. CONCLUSIONS: Many hospital staff are resigned to the inevitability of violence. The concept of staff 'resilience' following violence is not unproblematic, having the potential to serve as a guise for acceptance and as an additional variable for which staff are held accountable. When designing strategies, organisations should ensure that accountability for violence reduction is distributed across multiple levels. This study makes a novel contribution by exploring the perspectives of multiple staff groups working across diverse hospital settings, and adds to a sparse literature on this subject in the UK. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION: Efforts to address violence against healthcare staff need to be power-conscious, ensuring that accountability is distributed across multiple levels. REPORTING METHOD: This study is reported in line with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ). PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.

Impact of Burnout on Anaesthesiologists.

Professional burnout syndrome (PBS) is an issue affecting individuals and organizations alike, characterized by emotional exhaustion and reduced effectiveness resulting from overwhelming work demands. Root causes include excessive workload, unrealistic expectations, and blurred work-life boundaries, which are often intensified by organizational culture and inadequate support systems. The consequences range from decreased productivity and creativity to high turnover rates and financial strain on organizations. Mitigating PBS requires a comprehensive approach that addresses both individual and organizational levels. Individually, stress management techniques and self-care practices are crucial for building resilience and coping with work-related stressors. Organizations play a vital role in promoting employee well-being by fostering a supportive work environment, promoting work-life balance and providing access to support systems such as counseling and mentorship programs. Leadership is key in creating a culture that values employee health and prioritizes open communication and empathy. Policy interventions can further support efforts to combat PBS by enforcing labor laws that protect employee rights, such as setting limits on working hours and ensuring access to mental health services. Additionally, incentivise organizations to prioritize employee well-being through tax incentives or certification programs can encourage proactive measures against burnout. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive exploration of PBS, examining its causes, consequences, and potential mitigation strategies in individuals and organizations, with a focus on anaesthesiology.

The Social Ecology of Burnout: A framework for research on nurse practitioner burnout.

BACKGROUND: The U.S. health system is burdened by rising costs, workforce shortages, and unremitting burnout. Well-being interventions have emerged in response, yet data suggest that the work environment is the problem. Nurse practitioner (NP) burnout is associated with structural and relational factors in the work environment, practice autonomy, and hierarchical leadership. PURPOSE: We explore the unique social, cultural, and political environment in which NPs work through the lens of social ecology and present the Social Ecology of Burnout (SEB) framework. METHODS: We review current burnout frameworks in the context of the NP practice environment and discuss the SEB, specifically exploring psychological safety and its influence on burnout. FINDINGS: Psychological safety, work environment, and policy are presented within the SEB and solutions which empower NPs are considered. DISCUSSION: Our framework can serve as a guide for future nursing research, practice, and policy.

[Shortage of nurses in Spain: from the global case to particular situation. SESPAS Report 2024]. / Escasez de enfermeras en España: del caso global a la situación particular. Informe SESPAS 2024.

The nursing shortage is a multi-causal phenomenon that affects all countries and currently a global concern. The shortage of nurses jeopardizes the sustainability of health systems and the population health outcomes. Spain has historically had no difficulties in attracting new generations of nurses. The shortage of nurses is caused by the precarious working conditions and lack of professional development that have led to episodes of high international migration and abandonment of the profession. In this paper we focus on the evolution of different indicators of the working conditions of non-specialist nurses, who make up the bulk of the profession. These indicators allow us to analyse the abandonment of the profession, the duration of contracts, their full-time or part-time dedication and the excessive hiring. We have analysed the effect of COVID-19 and the labour reform on these indicators. COVID-19 reduced the abandonment of the profession and is currently at its lowest level, it has also accelerated the need to improve working conditions by increasing the percentage of permanent contracts and reducing the multiplicity of contracts in the same month. The labour reform has helped reduce the percentage of temporary contracts until reaching around 80% of the total contracts, and has reduced the number of nurses in Spain with more than one contract in the same month to below 3000 nurses on a sustained basis.

The Impact of Sociodemographic Factors on Job Satisfaction and Professional Burnout among Nurses in Urology Departments.

(1) Background: Job satisfaction and professional burnout directly impact human life, depending on various professional, non-professional, and private determinants. Nurses, in particular, are highly susceptible to experiencing professional burnout, which, when combined with job satisfaction, significantly affects the quality of their services. This study aimed to assess the level of job satisfaction and job burnout among nurses working in urology departments, as well as the impact of sociodemographic factors. (2) Methods: The study involved 130 nurses working in urology departments in Poland. Researchers conducted an anonymous questionnaire comprising a sociodemographic section and two standardized questionnaires: the Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ) and the Scale of Job Satisfaction (SSP). (3) Results: The study group demonstrated an average level of job satisfaction (17.23 points) and an average level of professional burnout, indicating potential symptoms of professional burnout such as psychophysical exhaustion (22.29 points), lack of commitment to patient relationships (20.02 points), feelings of professional ineffectiveness (17.37 points), and disappointment (19.66 points). (4) Conclusions: The levels of job satisfaction and professional burnout among nurses in urology departments are comparable to those in other departments and countries. Medical facilities should take into account factors influencing job satisfaction and the risk of professional burnout when addressing employment conditions.

Professional burnout of nurses and the level of rationing of nursing care: an observational preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are one of the professional groups most exposed to experiencing professional burnout. Professional burnout has a negative impact on the quality of nursing care, including causing care rationing. Therefore, it is very important to understand the determinants of both professional burnout and care rationing, as well as their mutual relationships. The aim of the study was to understand the impact of professional burnout among nurses on the level of rationing of nursing care. METHODS: The study was conducted among 100 nurses at the Glogów County Hospital (Poland) from November 14, 2011, to November 18, 2022. The following Polish version of the standardized research tools were utilized: the Basel Extent of Rationing of Nursing Care- Revised (BERNCA-R) questionnaire and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). Additionally, a survey designed by the authors was employed. RESULTS: The BERNCA-R significantly correlates (p < 0.05) and positively (r > 0) with OLBI (disengagement), resulting in a higher degree of care rationing. The average overall BERNCA-R score was 1.56 points (SD = 0.62), indicating that the frequency of care rationing among respondents ranged from "never" to "rarely." Among participants in the OLBI questionnaire, 63% of respondents had a moderate level of work exhaustion, 36% had a high level of work exhaustion, and 1% had a low level of work exhaustion. In turn, 58% of respondents had a moderate level of disengagement, 38% had a high level of disengagement, and 4% had a low level of disengagement. Moreover, a statistically significant association with the BERNCA-R score concerning the workplace (ward) and participation in training on preventing professional burnout was shown. CONCLUSIONS: The rationing of nursing care was found to be at a low level. The higher the level of disengagement, the greater the level of care rationing was observed. In conservative units, nurses demonstrated a higher level of care rationing. Nurses' expectations regarding the reduction of professional burnout include, among other things, higher remuneration, an increase in the number of staff, and an improvement in the work atmosphere.