BackgroundHealth care employees in Germany and worldwide are exposed to a variety of stressors. However, most of the hospitals in Germany lack a systematic workplace health management. Thus, this study aims at the evaluation of the effects of a behavioural as well as organisational (´complex´) intervention on the mental health and well-being of hospital staff.MethodsMental health in the hospital workplace (SEElische GEsundheit am Arbeitsplatz KrankeNhaus – SEEGEN) is an unblinded, multi-centred cluster-randomised open trial with two groups (intervention group (IG) and waitlist control group (CG)). Study participants in the intervention clusters will receive the complex intervention; study participants in the waitlist control clusters will receive the complex intervention after the last follow-up measurement. The intervention consists of five behavioural and organisational intervention modules that are specifically tailored to hospital employees at different hierarchical and functional levels. Hospital staff may select one specific module according to their position and specific needs or interests. Towards the end of the intervention roundtable discussions with representatives from all professional groups will be held to facilitate organisational change. Primary outcome is the change in emotional and cognitive strain in the working environment, from baseline (T0) to 6 month-follow up (T1), between IG and CG. In addition, employees who do not participate in the modules are included in the trial by answering shorter questionnaires (cluster participants). Furthermore, using mixed methods, a process evaluation will identify uptake of the intervention, and mediators and moderators of the effect.DiscussionThere seems to be growing psychological strain on people working in the health care sector worldwide. This study will examine whether investing directly in the hospital staff and their interpersonal relationship may lead to measurable benefits in subjective well-being at the workplace and improved economic performance indicators of the hospital. In case of a positive outcome, health promotion strategies looking at behavioural as well as organisational components within the hospital may gain additional importance, especially in regard of the growing financial pressure within the health sector.Trial registration DRKSThe SEEGEN study is registered at the German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS) under the DRKS-ID DRKS00017249. Registered 08 October 2019, URL.https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00017249.

The PIRI scale shows a valuable capacity to provide accurate routine psychological health assessment for at-risk workers in high-strain work environments.

Background Professionals in the healthcare sector are a particularly vulnerable group for occupational strain due to high work-related psychological stress. For the implementation of targeted stress-prevention interventions as an important part of a workplace health management programme for all occupational groups and hierarchy levels, information about the current state of their mental health is mandatory. Hence, this study investigated the association of general well-being and different leadership styles among employees in a German tertiary hospital. Methods Via an online survey, 10,101 employees were contacted. The final sample consisted of 1137 employees. Of these, 27.7% described themselves as leaders and 72.3% as followers. Most participants were female (74.8%), more than half were under 41 years old. Besides control variables, general well-being (WHO-5) and leadership style (transactional and transformational, laissez-faire and destructive leadership) were assessed. Results Leaders reported higher well-being scores than followers. Physicians without leadership responsibilities had the lowest scores for well-being. Practitioners of both transformational and transactional leadership were associated with higher well-being scores, while those practicing laissez-faire and destructive leadership had lower scores for almost every professional group. Conclusion Results highlight the necessity for future multimodal health-preventive leadership interventions feature behavioural and organizational intervention modules specifically tailored to hospital professionals at different hierarchical and functional levels to foster the mental health of employees.

Zusammenfassung Ziel der Studie Befragung von Mitarbeitern im Krankenhaus zu arbeitsbedingten Fehlbelastungen und Stressfolgen sowie Konsequenzen für Interventionen zur Stressreduktion am Arbeitsplatz. Methodik Es wurden 6 Fokusgruppen und 7 semistrukturierte Interviews mit 34 Krankenhausmitarbeitern durchgeführt, welche inhaltsanalytisch ausgewertet wurden. Ergebnisse Mitarbeiter berichteten von Stressfolgen durch Personalmangel, hohes Arbeitsaufkommen, fehlende Rückzugs- und Versorgungsmöglichkeiten, fehlende Absprachen, intransparente Arbeitsabläufe, Teamkonflikte und fehlende Wertschätzung. Berichtete Faktoren, die zur Reduktion von Stressfolgen führten, waren soziale Unterstützung, Arbeitszeitreduktion, Sport und Entscheidungskompetenzen. Schlussfolgerung Interventionen zur Reduktion arbeitsbedingter Fehlbelastungen im Krankenhaus sollten sowohl berufsgruppenspezifische Interventionsangebote sowie organisationale Normen und strukturelle Rahmenbedingungen berücksichtigen.