Humor in professional coaching: a literature review and research agenda.

Introduction: Extensive research has explored the incorporation of humor in therapy, revealing its potential positive effects on clients' mental well-being and personal growth. However, limited research exists on how coaching could benefit from humor as an intervention and how its utilization impacts the interaction processes and outcomes for both the coachee and coach. Therefore, our research focuses on the use and effects of spontaneous humor within professional dialogues. This paper aims to extract insights from academic literature on humor in adjacent fields and apply these insights to the context of coaching. Methods: This paper offers implications for coaching theory and practice, alongside a proposed research agenda. The initial phase involves analyzing reviews on humor in professional contexts, and coaching. Secondly, following the PRISMA guidelines for review, we identified 13 empirical studies, which address the role of humor in counseling, psychotherapy, and mentoring. Results and discussion: Our findings suggest that humor serves as a valuable tool for establishing and deepening the working alliance, fostering adaptive coping mechanisms in clients, and enhancing the cognitive and behavioral process. Moreover, humor is shown to be advantageous for professionals in navigating challenging client relationships. These findings hold significance for the realm of coaching practice as well. In light of these insights, we propose the integration of humor use in education toolkits for coaching professionals.

"To be, or not be satisfied in NPOs": a serial multiple mediation and clustering analysis of paid staff and volunteers' profiles.

Introduction: Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are a complex working context whose main characteristic resides in the dichotomy between paid staff and volunteers. Despite its benefits for goal achievement, this circumstance can be also a challenge, for both groups' interaction, for their comprehension of their own role and to HR management. The aim of this study was to explore factors that may contribute to promote job satisfaction among NPOs' members. Methods: Combining two different data analyses, serial multiple mediation analyses and cluster analyses, first we analyze whether there are differences between paid staff and volunteers in perceived intrapersonal conflict and performance and its effect on job satisfaction, and second, we analyze whether there is an additional profiles distribution that reflects more adequately the reality of NPOs, despite the formal roles that coexist in these organizations (paid staff and volunteers). Results: Results confirm that paid staff and volunteers differ on their perceived job satisfaction level, with volunteers being more satisfied. This relationship is serially mediated by role conflict, role ambiguity, and performance. Another characteristic of the NPOs is that the dichotomy between paid staff and volunteers does not capture well the reality of the labor relations between members of both groups and the organization. To explore this phenomenon, we perform a cluster analysis based on paid staff and volunteers' perceptions. Cluster analyses demonstrate the existence of three rather homogenous profiles. Discussion: Additionally, practical implications for HR management in NPOs and future research lines to understand this organizational context dynamics are also discussed.

Mediation: Understanding a Constructive Conflict Management Tool in the Workplace / La mediación: una herramienta de gestión constructiva del conflicto en el lugar de trabajo

Mediation becomes relevant nowadays as a way to manage conflicts in the workplace in a nonjudicial way, preventing costly, extensive, and unsatisfying legal procedures. This study tries to systematize the more recent research about mediation, showing the main challenges, questions, and findings. Research suggests the importance of integrating the organizational and societal context in the study of mediation, the use of efficiency, equity, and voice objectives for evaluating mediation effectiveness, and taking into account a contingency approach in mediator strategies. There is an important gap between the large development of professional practice in mediation and the few systematic studies on this topic. This paper offers a model that considers current research and practice for mediation effectiveness. This model could be used to focus the orientation of scholars, practitioners, and governments in search of new developments in the design of mediation. Future research could explore specific combinations of these dimensions to analyze sectors, organizations, or cases of mediation.(AU)

La mediación está adquiriendo relevancia hoy en día como una forma extrajudicial de gestionar los conflictos, evitando procedimientos legales costosos, largos e insatisfactorios. Este estudio trata de sistematizar la investigación más reciente sobre la mediación, mostrando los principales retos, cuestiones y conclusiones. La investigación sugiere la importancia de integrar el contexto organizativo y social en el estudio de la mediación, el uso de objetivos de eficiencia, equidad y voz para evaluar la eficacia de la mediación y tener en cuenta un enfoque contingente en las estrategias de las personas mediadoras. Existe una importante brecha entre el gran desarrollo de la práctica profesional de la mediación y la escasez de estudios sistemáticos sobre este tema. Este artículo ofrece un modelo que tiene en cuenta tanto la investigación como el ejercicio práctico para entender cómo se producen las mediaciones eficaces. Este modelo podría utilizarse para orientar a la academia, el ejercicio profesional y a los gobiernos en la búsqueda de nuevos desarrollos en el diseño de la mediación. Las investigaciones futuras podrían explorar combinaciones específicas de estas dimensiones para analizar sectores, organizaciones o casos de mediación.(AU)

Servant Leadership Stimulates Spiritual Well-Being Through Team Trust in a Female Religious Context.

This study investigates how female religious leaders nurture spiritual well-being in religious sisters. Specifically, we examined how servant leadership fosters spiritual well-being [Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit (GFSp)] through, respectively, the mediating role of team trust and reduced occurrence of team conflicts. Quantitative survey data were collected from 453 religious sisters (followers) within a Catholic Women Religious Institute in Nigeria. Using structural equation modeling, results showed that servant leadership is positively related to team trust and negatively related to team conflict. Further findings showed that servant leadership indirectly fosters spiritual well-being: Gifts of the Spirit (GSp), and Fruits of the Spirit (FSp), through the mediating role of team trust, however not through reduced team conflict. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Increasing Integrative Negotiation in European Organizations Through Trustworthiness and Trust.

Integrative negotiation in which employers and employees create value is a major necessity in the current challenging context. Collective labor negotiations in organizations are traditionally focused on mostly distributive issues, such as pay, working hours, and holidays. However, the current situation demands the inclusion of other issues of a potentially more integrative nature, such as telework, sustainability, and risk prevention, the enhancement of which is a major challenge for organizations. In this study, we explore the negotiation process between management and employee representatives (ERs), analyzing the roles of trust and trustworthiness. We collected data from 614 human resources managers from different organizations in 11 European countries. The results confirm that ERs who management perceive to be trustworthy have a greater influence on negotiation, particularly with regard to integrative as opposed to distributive issues, and that trust partially mediates this relationship.

A Matter of Feelings: Mediators' Perceptions of Emotion in Hierarchical Workplace Conflicts.

Emotions play a central role in the process of conflict and resolution. For a mediator, it is important to recognize emotions correctly and act upon them. Whether interventions are appropriate depends to a large extent on the ability of mediators to accurately perceive the emotions of conflict parties. Particularly in hierarchical labor conflicts, this can be challenging, since subordinates tend to hide emotions while supervisors tend to express them. In this study, we investigated if subordinates and supervisors differ in their emotional experience during mediation and whether mediators perceive these emotions accurately. To this end, we compared the extent to which disputants experienced certain emotions with the extent to which mediators perceived these emotions. Data were collected through surveys of mediation clients and mediators in hierarchical labor conflicts in the Netherlands. As expected, subordinates experienced a higher level of negative emotions during the mediation than supervisors did. Positive emotions, however, were experienced to a similar extent by both supervisors and subordinates in mediation. Mediators perceived supervisors' emotions more accurately than they did subordinates' emotions. While supervisors' emotions were positively related with mediators' perceptions, this was not the case for subordinates' emotions. Furthermore, mediators were more accurately perceiving supervisors' negative emotions than their positive emotions. Implications for mediation theory and practice are discussed.

Start-up conflict and hair cortisol.

Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) can be a biomarker of long-term exposure to work stress. However, research shows no consistent associations between HCC and self-reported stress. This may be due to stress being treated as a general category, without distinguishing between specific types of sources of stress, and because of a limited use of more elaborate stress assessment techniques involving intensive longitudinal designs. In this study, we analyze the relationship between perceived start-up team conflict over 11 weeks and HCC in 63 start-up team members. The results show that the level of perceived conflict is positively associated to HCC. These results draw attention to the importance of interpersonal conflict as one type of work stressors and raise awareness of its physiological effects over longer time periods in start-up teams.

Inside "Pandora's Box" of Solidarity: Conflicts Between Paid Staff and Volunteers in the Non-profit Sector.

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are quite complex in terms of organizational structure, diversity at the workplace, as well as motivational mechanisms and value rationality. Nevertheless, from the perspective of organizational psychology, the systematic analysis of this context is scarce in the literature, particularly regarding conflicts. This qualitative study analyzes types, prevalence, and consequences of conflicts in a large NPO considering as theoretical framework several consolidated organizational psychology theories: conflict theory, social comparison theory, and equity theory. Conflicts were analyzed taking into account volunteers' perspective, who have been the consistent protagonist in NPO research, but also considering paid staff's perspective as one of the main stakeholders in these organizations, whose relative power has increased in the past decade due to the professionalization of the NPO's sector. Results confirmed the existence of four types of conflicts: task, process, status, and relationship conflicts. Relationship conflict is the least reported type, revealing the protection factor that values and engagement with a social aim have on this organizational context. The most relevant finding is the strong difference between paid staff and volunteers in conflict perceptions, showing paid staff, overall, higher levels of conflicts than volunteers. Findings also show stronger negative consequences for paid staff compared to volunteers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Similarities and differences in the associations between patient safety culture dimensions and self-reported outcomes in two different cultural settings: a national cross-sectional study in Palestinian and Belgian hospitals.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationships between patient safety culture (PSC) dimensions and PSC self-reported outcomes across different cultures and to gain insights in cultural differences regarding PSC. DESIGN: Observational, cross-sectional study. SETTING: Ninety Belgian hospitals and 13 Palestinian hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2836 healthcare professionals matched for profession, tenure and working hours. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The validated versions of the Belgian and Palestinian Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture were used. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Reliability was tested using Cronbach's alpha (α). In this study, we examined the specific predictive value of the PSC dimensions and its self-reported outcome measures across different cultures and countries. Hierarchical regression and bivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: Eight PSC dimensions and four PSC self-reported outcomes were distinguished in both countries. Cronbach's α was α≥0.60. Significant correlations were found between PSC dimensions and its self-reported outcome (p value range <0.05 to <0.001). Hierarchical regression analyses showed overall perception of safety was highly predicted by hospital management support in Palestine (ß=0.16, p<0.001) and staffing in Belgium (ß=0.24, p<0.001). The frequency of events was largely predicted by feedback and communication in both countries (Palestine: ß=0.24, p<0.001; Belgium: ß=0.35, p<0.001). Overall grade for patient safety was predicted by organisational learning in Palestine (ß=0.19, p<0.001) and staffing in Belgium (ß=0.19, p<0.001). Number of events reported was predicted by staffing in Palestine (ß=-0.20, p<0.001) and feedback and communication in Belgium (ß=0.11, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: To promote patient safety in Palestine and Belgium, staffing and communication regarding errors should be improved in both countries. Initiatives to improve hospital management support and establish constructive learning systems would be especially beneficial for patient safety in Palestine. Future research should address the association between safety culture and hard patient safety measures such as patient outcomes.

Improving patient safety in Palestinian hospitals: a cross-sectional and retrospective chart review study.

BACKGROUND: Patient safety is the central component of health-care quality. There is a lack of patient safety data in the occupied Palestinian territory. The aim of this study was to assess patient safety and explore relationships between patient safety culture and the prevalence of adverse events at the department level. METHODS: Between May 25, 2009, and June 1, 2010, the Arabic validated Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture was used to measure the norms and perceptions of health professionals regarding safety. The survey was used in eight medical departments in two hospitals (Al Makassed hospital and Al Ahli hospital in the West Bank; four departments per hospital). During the same period, a retrospective review of medical records was done to identify adverse events using the validated Palestinian version of the Global Trigger Tool. Descriptive statistics and Spearman's rho coefficient were used. Ethical approval was obtained from the participating hospital boards and the Palestinian health authorities, and written consent was obtained from participants. FINDINGS: 640 randomly selected records (320 records per hospital) were reviewed, and 428 health-care workers participated in the safety culture assessment (response rate 74%). 213 (50%) participants were nurses, 163 (38%) were doctors, and 52 (12%) were other health-care professionals. Patients had a mean age of 44·2 years (SD 19·6; range 18-95) and a mean length of stay of 4·8 days (SD 5·6; range 1-70). 91 (14%) records included an adverse event. Adverse events were negatively associated with the aggregate safety culture (r=-0·905; p=0·0009), hospital management support (r=-0·881; p=0·0017), non-punitive response to errors (r=-0·731; p=0·019), communication and feedback on errors (r=-0·905; p=0·0009), teamwork (r=-0·886; p=0·0021), organisational learning (r=-0·778; p=0·011), and supervisor actions promoting patient safety (r=-0·857; p=0·0029), indicating that departments with a more positive patient safety culture had lower rates of adverse events. INTERPRETATIONS: Safety must be improved for Palestinian patients. To promote patient safety, managers and policy makers should acknowledge and allocate resources for enhancing overall safety culture, hospital management support, non-punitive response, communication on errors, teamwork, organisational learning, and supervisor actions. FUNDING: Research and development, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Psychological impact and recovery after involvement in a patient safety incident: a repeated measures analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To examine individual, situational and organisational aspects that influence psychological impact and recovery of a patient safety incident on physicians, nurses and midwives. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, retrospective surveys of physicians, midwives and nurses. SETTING: 33 Belgian hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: 913 clinicians (186 physicians, 682 nurses, 45 midwives) involved in a patient safety incident. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Impact of Event Scale was used to retrospectively measure psychological impact of the safety incident at the time of the event and compare it with psychological impact at the time of the survey. RESULTS: Individual, situational as well as organisational aspects influenced psychological impact and recovery of a patient safety incident. Psychological impact is higher when the degree of harm for the patient is more severe, when healthcare professionals feel responsible for the incident and among female healthcare professionals. Impact of degree of harm differed across clinicians. Psychological impact is lower among more optimistic professionals. Overall, impact decreased significantly over time. This effect was more pronounced for women and for those who feel responsible for the incident. The longer ago the incident took place, the stronger impact had decreased. Also, higher psychological impact is related with the use of a more active coping and planning coping strategy, and is unrelated to support seeking coping strategies. Rendered support and a support culture reduce psychological impact, whereas a blame culture increases psychological impact. No associations were found with job experience and resilience of the health professional, the presence of a second victim support team or guideline and working in a learning culture. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare organisations should anticipate on providing their staff appropriate and timely support structures that are tailored to the healthcare professional involved in the incident and to the specific situation of the incident.

Increased Risk of Burnout for Physicians and Nurses Involved in a Patient Safety Incident.

BACKGROUND: Human errors occur everywhere, including in health care. Not only the patient, but also the involved health professional is affected (ie, the "second victim"). OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of health care professionals being personally involved in a patient safety incident (PSI), as well as the relationship of involvement and degree of harm with problematic medication use, excessive alcohol consumption, risk of burnout, work-home interference (WHI), and turnover intentions. RESEARCH DESIGN: Multilevel path analyses were conducted to analyze cross-sectional survey data from 37 Belgian hospitals. SUBJECTS: A total of 5788 nurses (79.4%) and physicians (20.6%) in 26 acute and 11 psychiatric hospitals were included. MEASURES: "Involvement in a patient safety incident during the prior 6 months," "degree of harm," and 5 outcomes were measured using self-report scales. RESULTS: Nine percent of the total sample had been involved in a PSI during the prior 6 months. Involvement in a PSI was related to a greater risk of burnout (ß=0.40, OR=2.07), to problematic medication use (ß=0.33, OR=1.84), to greater WHI (ß=0.24), and to more turnover intentions (ß=0.22). Harm to the patient was a predictor of problematic medication use (ß=0.14, OR=1.56), risk of burnout (ß=0.16, OR=1.62), and WHI (ß=0.19). CONCLUSIONS: Second victims experience significant negative outcomes in the aftermath of a PSI. An appropriate organizational response should be provided to mitigate the negative effects.

The Relation Between Supervisors' Big Five Personality Traits and Employees' Experiences of Abusive Supervision.

The present study investigates the relation between supervisors' personality traits and employees' experiences of supervisory abuse, an area that - to date - remained largely unexplored in previous research. Field data collected from 103 supervisor-subordinate dyads showed that contrary to our expectations supervisors' agreeableness and neuroticism were not significantly related to abusive supervision, nor were supervisors' extraversion or openness to experience. Interestingly, however, our findings revealed a positive relation between supervisors' conscientiousness and abusive supervision. That is, supervisors high in conscientiousness were more likely to be perceived as an abusive supervisor by their employees. Overall, our findings do suggest that supervisors' Big Five personality traits explain only a limited amount of the variability in employees' experiences of abusive supervision.

Servant Leadership, Organisational Citizenship Behavior and Creativity: The Mediating Role of Team-Member Exchange.

Using a multi-source field study design with 184 unique triads of employees-supervisor dyads, this paper examines whether servant leaders install a serving attitude among employees. That is, servant leaders aim to encourage employees to take responsibility, to cooperate and to create high quality interactions with each other (team-member exchange; TMX). We hypothesise that servant leadership will have an influence on Organisational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and creativity through team-member exchange. Two facets of OCB are distinguished: organisational citizenship behaviour towards individuals (OCBI), on the one hand, and taking up extra tasks that benefit the organisation (OCBO), on the other hand. The results show that servant leadership is positively related to team-member exchange, and that team-member exchange is positively related to OCBI, OCBO and creativity. The bootstrapping estimates indicated significant indirect effects of servant leadership on the three target variables through team-member exchange. The study's findings add to the body of literature on servant leadership, OCB and creativity at the workplace, and underline the importance of creating favourable working conditions that foster positive and high quality team-member exchange. This study also broadens our understanding on the importance of co-workers on the relation between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and creativity.

Involvement of health-care professionals in an adverse event: the role of management in supporting their workforce.

INTRODUCTION:  After an adverse event, not only patients and family members but also health-care professionals involved in the event become victims. More than 50% of all health-care professionals suffer emotionally and professionally after being involved in an adverse event. Support is needed for these "second victims" to prevent a further negative impact on patient care. OBJECTIVES:  The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and content of organizational­level support systems for health-care professionals involved in an adverse event. METHODS:  A survey was sent to 109 Belgian hospitals regarding 2 aspects: first, the availability of a protocol for supporting second victims; and, second, the presence of a contact person in the organization to provide support. A total of 59 hospitals participated in the study. Hospitals were asked to submit their protocols for providing support to second victims. A content analysis based on an Institute for Healthcare Improvement's white paper and the Scott Model was performed to evaluate the protocols. RESULTS:  Thirty organizations had a systematic plan to support second victims. Twelve percent could not identify a contact person. The chief nursing officer was seen as one of the main contact people when something went wrong. In terms of the quality of the protocols, only a minority followed part of the international resources. CONCLUSIONS:  A minority of hospitals are somewhat prepared to provide support for health-care professionals. Management should take a leadership role in establishing support protocols for their health-care professionals in the aftermath of an adverse event.

The Global Trigger Tool shows that one out of seven patients suffers harm in Palestinian hospitals: challenges for launching a strategic safety plan.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate patient safety levels in Palestinian hospitals and to provide guidance for policymakers involved in safety improvement efforts. DESIGN: Retrospective review of hospitalized patient records using the Global Trigger Tool. SETTING: Two large hospitals in Palestine: a referral teaching hospital and a nonprofit, non-governmental hospital. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 640 random records of discharged patients were reviewed by experienced nurses and physicians from the selected hospitals. INTERVENTION: Assessment of adverse events. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of adverse events, their preventability and harm category. Descriptive statistics and Cohen kappa coefficients were calculated. RESULTS: One out of seven patients (91 [14.2%]) suffered harm. Fifty-four (59.3%) of these events were preventable; 64 (70.4%) resulted in temporary harm, requiring prolonged hospitalization. Good reliability was achieved among the independent reviewers in identifying adverse events. The Global Trigger Tool showed that adverse events in Palestinian hospitals likely occur at a rate of 20 times higher than previously reported. Although reviewers reported that detecting adverse events was feasible, we identified conditions suggesting that the tool may be challenging to use in daily practice. CONCLUSION: One out of seven patients suffers harm in Palestinian hospitals. Compromised safety represents serious problems for patients, hospitals and governments and should be a high priority public health issue. We argue that direct interventions should be launched immediately to improve safety. Additional costs associated with combating adverse events should be taken into consideration, especially in regions with limited resources, as in Palestine.

Perceived demands during modern military operations.

Using a cross-sectional design, this study explored operational demands during the International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan (2009-2010) across distinct military units. A total of 1,413 Dutch soldiers, nested within four types of units (i.e., combat, combat support, service support, and command support units) filled out a 23-item self-survey in which they were asked to evaluate the extent to which they experienced operational characteristics as demanding. Exploratory factor analysis identified six underlying dimensions of demands. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that distinct units are characterized by their own unique constellation of perceived demands, even after controlling for previous deployment experience. Most notable findings were found when comparing combat units to other types of units. These insights can be used to better prepare different types of military units for deployment, and support them in the specific demands they face during deployment.

The Arabic version of the hospital survey on patient safety culture: a psychometric evaluation in a Palestinian sample.

BACKGROUND: A growing global interest in patient safety culture has increased the development of validated instruments to asses this phenomenon. The aim of this study is to investigate the psychometric properties of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) and its appropriateness for Arab hospitals. METHODS: The 7-step guideline of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was used to translate and validate the HSOPSC. A panel of experts evaluated the face and content validity indexing of the Arabic version. Data were collected from 13 Palestinian hospitals including 2022 healthcare professionals who had direct or indirect interaction with patients, hospital supervisors, managers and administrators. Descriptive statistics and psychometric evaluation (a split-half validation technique) were then used to test and strengthen the validity and reliability of the instrument. RESULTS: With respect to face and content validity, the CVI analysis showed excellent results for the Arab context (CVI = 0.96). As to construct validity, the 12 original dimensions could not be applied to the Palestinian data. Furthermore, three of the 12 original dimensions were not reliable (α <0.6). The split-half technique resulted in an optimal 11-factor model. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first study in the Arab world to provide an evaluation of the HSOPSC using Arabic data from Palestine. The Arabic translation of the HSOPSC comprises an 11-factor structure showing good validity and acceptable reliability. Despite the similarity between the Arab factor structure of the HSOPSC and that of the original one, and taking into account that our version may be applied in Arabic hospitals, there is a need for caution in comparing HSOPSC data between countries.

A review on leadership of head nurses and patient safety and quality of care.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to explore in literature what different leadership styles and behaviors of head nurses have a positive influence on the outcomes of patient safety or quality of care. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: We reviewed the literature from January 2000 until September 2011. We searched Pubmed, Embase, Cinahl, Psychlit, and Econlit. FINDINGS: We found 10 studies addressing the relationship between head nurse leadership and safety and quality. A wide array of styles and practices were associated with different patient outcomes. Transformational leadership was the most used concept in the studies. A trend can be observed over these studies suggesting that a trustful relationship between the head nurse and subordinates is an important driving force for the achievement of positive patient outcomes. Furthermore, the effects of these trustful relationships seem to be amplified by supporting mechanisms, often objective conditions like clinical pathways and, especially, staffing level. VALUE/ORIGINALITY: This study offers an up-to-date review of the limited number of studies on the relationship between nurse leadership and patient outcomes. Although mostly transformational leadership was found to be responsible for positive associations with outcomes, also contingent reward had positive influence on outcomes. We formulated some comments on the predominance of the transformational leadership concept and suggested the application of complexity theory and political leadership for the current context of care. We formulated some implications for practice and further research, mainly the need for more systematic empirical and cross cultural studies and the urgent need for the development of a validated set of nurse-sensitive patient outcome indicators.