Work engagement of psychiatric nurses: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVES: Work engagement is an essential factor in improving employee performance. However, no reviews on the work engagement of psychiatric nurses have been conducted to date. This study aimed to examine the current status of research on the work engagement of psychiatric nurses and identify salient factors. DESIGN: A scoping review. METHODS: This review adhered to the established scoping review methodological guidelines and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews checklist. The inclusion criteria were based on nurses, work engagement and psychiatric settings without language or date restrictions. Regardless of the methodology or study design, research studies related to the work engagement of psychiatric nurses have been included. A systematic search was conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO from the inception of each database, with the search strategies being set by an information specialist. The deadline for the search was 15 February 2023. RESULTS: The study included 12 studies. All studies have been published since 2013. The study designs included cross-sectional (n=10), longitudinal (n=1) and intervention (n=1) studies. The impacts of work engagement were classified into (1) attitudes towards patients, (2) attitudes towards work, (3) mental health and (4) quality of care. Factors influencing work engagement were classified into (1) demographics, (2) workplace factors, (3) individual factors and (4) patient factors. CONCLUSION: Work engagement of psychiatric nurses has lately gained attention, although data are limited because most studies used a cross-sectional design. Psychiatric nurses with higher work engagement showed positive outcomes. Workplace and individual factors can potentially improve their work engagement. The findings can assist nursing managers in enhancing psychiatric nurses' work engagement and, consequently, their performance.

Work engagement of psychiatric nurses: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Psychiatric nurses face various stressors related to nurse-patient relationships, workplace interpersonal relationships and organisational problems, and are required to perform excellent work under stressful situations. As work engagement (a counterconcept of burnout) is a key factor that improves the performance of nurses, clarifying how to improve work engagement is an essential topic among researchers. Although some knowledge has been accumulated on the subject, no reviews have been conducted on the work engagement of psychiatric nurses. To fill the gap, this scoping review will examine the status of research activity on the work engagement of psychiatric nurses and identify related factors, consequently mapping the available research in this area. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The review will be conducted according to established scoping review methodological guidelines. The inclusion criteria will be based on nurses (participants), work engagement (concept), and psychiatric settings (context) without language or date restrictions. Regardless of the methodology or study design, research related to the work engagement of psychiatric nurses will be included. A systematic search will be conducted for MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO, with the searches being arranged by an information specialist through discussion. The first author will screen all potentially relevant publications, and the second author will independently screen a random sample comprising 10% of the manuscripts. Any disagreement will be resolved by a review team. Data will be extracted using a standardised extraction form, subsequently summarised through quantitative (frequencies) and qualitative analyses (narrative synthesis), and reported in the results of the review. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As the data will be collected from existing literature, ethical approval is not required. The findings will be disseminated through conference presentations and publication in a peer-reviewed journal. They are expected to help researchers enhance psychiatric nurses' work engagement, consequently contributing to improving their performance.

Associations between psychiatric home-visit nursing staff's exposure to violence and conditions of visit to community-living individuals with mental illness.

AIM: Psychiatric home-visit nursing is key for providing medical services to community-living individuals with mental illness in Japan. However, little is known about factors associated with encountering violent incidents among psychiatric home-visit nursing staff during visits. This cross-sectional study examined associations between staff's exposure to violence and their visit conditions reflecting characteristics of individuals with mental illness. METHODS: Psychiatric home-visit nursing staff members completed a questionnaire regarding their exposure to violence during the past 12 months and their visits to individuals with 23 characteristics, comprising static (13 items; e.g., psychiatric diagnosis) and dynamic factors (10 items; e.g., hostility/anger). RESULTS: Forty (16.3%) of the 246 participants had experienced violence. Visits to individuals with four static factors (psychiatric diagnoses, i.e., Disorders of Adult Personality and Behavior or Mental Retardation, alcohol/drug abuse with psychiatric diagnoses, and history of violent behavior), and nine dynamic factors were significantly and positively associated with participants' violent experiences. In addition, regarding the static factors of Disorders of Adult Personality and Behavior and history of violent behavior, it was found that overlapping of specific dynamic factors (e.g. hostility/anger) were significantly associated with violent experiences. CONCLUSIONS: For visits with limited information on individuals (e.g., initial visits), having information on their static factors could help prevent violence. Additionally, it is important to create educational programs for psychiatric home-visit nursing staff to detect the status of individuals' dynamic factors, and a system to share any related changes in timely fashion.

Testing the relationship between patient-related stressor, psychological distress, work engagement, job satisfaction and recovery attitude among psychiatric nurses in Japan.

AIMS: To test the relationship between patient-related stressor, psychological distress, work engagement and outcomes (job satisfaction and recovery attitude) among psychiatric nurses in Japan. Specifically, we tested the following hypotheses: psychological distress mediates the relationship between patient-related stressor and outcomes and work engagement moderates the direct and indirect effects of patient-related stressor on outcomes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: In total, 446 psychiatric nurses in Japan responded to a self-reported questionnaire between August and October 2018. Data on demographics, patient-related stressor, job satisfaction, recovery attitude, psychological distress and work engagement were collected, followed by a moderated mediation analysis using hierarchical regression and structural equation modeling (SEM). RESULTS: Regression analysis indicated that psychological distress mediated the negative relationship between patient-related stressor and job satisfaction and that work engagement moderated the direct and indirect effects of patient-related stressor on job satisfaction. In particular, the higher the work engagement, the higher the indirect effect, but the lower the direct effect. Additionally, no mediation of psychological distress and moderation of work engagement was observed in the relationship between patient-related stressor and recovery attitude; however, work engagement directly increased recovery attitude. Results of the SEM test showed a satisfactory fit of the final model. CONCLUSIONS: Work engagement facilitates recovery attitude and increases the indirect effect of patient-related stressor on job satisfaction through psychological distress. However, work engagement decreases the direct effect not mediated by psychological distress. IMPACT: This study addresses an essential topic, that is, psychiatric nurse job outcomes (job satisfaction and recovery attitude) are negatively influenced by patient-related stressor. Work engagement has multiple beneficial effects on outcomes as both a facilitator and moderator; thus, programs that improve work engagement are useful for psychiatric nurses. Furthermore, programs may be enhanced considering that work engagement decreases the direct effect of patient-related stressor on job satisfaction.

Factors influencing work engagement among psychiatric nurses in Japan.

AIM: To identify the factors influencing work engagement among psychiatric nurses. BACKGROUND: Work engagement is an essential outcome that promotes nurses' performance, but studies investigating its influencing factors remain limited in psychiatric settings. We hypothesized that job resources and personal resources positively predict psychiatric nurses' work engagement and have a particularly positive impact on engagement when job demand is high. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 425 Japanese psychiatric nurses. Data regarding demographics, job resources, personal resources (emotional intelligence), job demand (patients' attitude towards nurses) and work engagement were collected followed by data analysis using hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: Reward, supervisor support, nurse-physician collaboration, other-emotion appraisal and use of emotions were positively related to work engagement. Patients' unpleasant attitude towards nurses boosted the association of reward and supervisor support with work engagement. CONCLUSIONS: Certain job resources, empathic ability and self-motivation ability may enhance work engagement. Furthermore, reward and supervisor support may be particularly useful when psychiatric nurses face patients' unpleasant attitude. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: For enhancing psychiatric nurses' work engagement, nursing leaders should educate nurses' skills related to empathy and self-motivation, consider whether nurses are confronted with patients' unpleasant attitude, and improve the job resources.

Correlation between job security as motivation and career maturity among Japanese nursing students.

Objective: For nursing students, career maturity -an individual's readiness to cope with career development tasks and make age-appropriate career decisions- is an essential factor influencing their desire to continue the job after qualifying as a nurse. Although job security as motivation to become a nurse might influence the career maturity of nursing students, it has not been demonstrated. In this study I aimed to elucidate the correlation between job security as motivation and career maturity among Japanese nursing students. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted in 2012, through an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire, on 237 Japanese nursing students. Data on career maturity, job security as motivation, and personal characteristics were collected followed by data analysis using multiple regression. Results: Job security as motivation ("A nursing job is not affected by the economic climate") was significantly correlated with career maturity (ß = -0.29; p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that being motivated by job security negatively affects career maturity. Hence, at an early stage, basic nursing educators should identify nursing students with low career maturity by assessing whether they are motivated by job security, and if so, efficiently providing support to improve their career maturity.