A longitudinal examination of generic and occupational specific job demands, and work-related social support associated with burnout among nurses in Sweden

Abstract

During the past decade, levels of work-related stress have increased not only in Sweden but in all of Europe. Health care workers in general and nurses in particular have been identified as having a risk of experiencing stress and burnout. Since the objective of health care work is to care for and help other human beings, the demanding elements of the job may involve both generic (e.g. high workload) and occupational specific aspects, e.g. intense interpersonal interactions with patients, being exposed to sickness and death and having substantial responsibilities of providing right treatment to patients, with no room for errors. One way to navigate the demands of the environment is to utilize the help and support provided by coworkers and supervisors. The four empirical studies included in this thesis emphasize the concepts of work-related social support, job demands and burnout and the associations between these concepts, predominantly among health care workers.The majority of previous social support research has investigated how social support affects health. Fewer studies have focused on identifying factors that relate to social support while assessing social support as a dependent variable. The main aim in Study I was to assess different correlates (socio-demographic, individual and organizational/psychosocial) to work-related social support using a diverse sample of private and public employees (n=16144). The result indicated that organisational correlates, particularly perceived job control, were strongest associated with workrelated social support. The main aim in Study II was to perform source-specific analyses of social support in relation to different sub-dimensions of burnout among a sample of registered and assistant nurses (n=1561). The results showed statistically significant correlations between co-worker (patient) support and all three burnout dimensions, whereas supervisor support was statistically significantly related to emotional exhaustion alone. In accordance with prior findings, high levels of job demands were most strongly related to high emotional exhaustion. The main aim of Study III was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a job demand scale that captures specific job demands within health care work using two occupational groups, i.e. (n=795) registered nurses and (n=527) assistant nurses. A congruent component structure was obtained in both occupational samples, consisting of four job demand indices 'pain and death', 'patient and relatives needs', 'threats and violence' and 'professional worries'. The main aim in Study IV was to longitudinally examine the association of generic-and occupational specific job demands and workrelated social support on emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DP) over time among a group of registered nurses (n=775). Those nurses with with low and medium scores on EE and DP at T1 were included in the analyses. The results indicated that initial high professional worry was associated with high emotional exhaustion at T2. Unchanged high scores ove...

Can sleep quality and burnout affect the job performance of shift‐work nurses? A hospital cross‐sectional study

“…can promote the onset of burnout (Sundin, Hochw€ alder, & Lisspers, 2011), which is the pathological outcome of a stress-related process characterized by emotional exhaustion and depersonalization as well as a lack of personal accomplishment (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996;Pisanti, Lombardo, Lucidi, Violani, & Lazzari, 2013).…”

Exploring nursing staffs communication in stressful and non‐stressful situations

“…By its nature, the nursing profession is generally described as particularly stressful (Demerouti et al 2000, Hamaideh & Ammouri 2011, Sundin et al 2011). This appears to be especially problematic if nurses are detached and withdrawn from their co-workers, not able to communicate sufficiently in challenging situations.…”

“…This appears to be especially problematic if nurses are detached and withdrawn from their co-workers, not able to communicate sufficiently in challenging situations. Furthermore, these nurses may be at risk of becoming even more isolated (Sundin et al 2011).…”

“…Co-workers are often described as important sources of social support due to their understanding of workrelated stressors and situations in nursing practice (Ray & Miller 1994, Halbesleben & Buckley 2004. Hence, they may act as valuable resources in both stressful and non-stressful situations (Sundin et al 2011). A variety of stressors relating to the organisation of work as well as to the interaction with patients and their relatives may be evident.…”

“…A variety of stressors relating to the organisation of work as well as to the interaction with patients and their relatives may be evident. Working in a complex system where multiple parts interact with each other makes nurses more vulnerable to stress and emotional exhaustion (Hamaideh & Ammouri 2011, Sundin et al 2011). An earlier study has found that providing access to educational programmes, not only in clinical areas, but in teamwork, communication, family interactions and stress management will reduce nurses' job stressors in different clinical areas.…”