Social support in the workplace for physicians in specialization training

Abstract

When becoming a specialist, learning-through-service plays a significant role. The workplace affords good opportunities for learning, but the service-learning period may also impose stress on phycisians in specialization training. In medical work, social support has proved to be a very important factor in managing stress. Social support may afford advantages also for learning and professional identity building. However, little was known about how social support is perceived by doctors in specialization training. This study aimed to understand the perceptions of physicians in specialization training regarding social support communication in their workplace during their learning-through-service period. The study was conducted qualitatively by inductively analyzing the physicians’ descriptions of workplace communication. The dataset included 120 essays, 60 each from hospitals and primary healthcare centres. Physicians in specialization training explained the need of social support with the responsibilities and demands of their clinical work and the inability to control and manage their workloads. They perceived that social support works well for managing stress, but also for strengthening relational ties and one’s professional identity. A leader’s support was perceived as being effective, and both senior and junior colleagues were described as an important source of social support. Also co-workers, such as the individual nurse partner with whom one works, was mentioned as an important source of social support. The results of this study indicate that social support works at the relational and identity levels, which is due to the multi-functional nature of workplace communication. For example, consultation functions as situational problem-solving, but also the tone of social interaction is meaningful. Thus, strengthening one’s professional identity or collegial relationships requires further attention to workplace communication. Abbreviations PiST: Physician in specialization training

Psychosocial work environment and cross‐cultural competence among native and foreign‐born registered nurses

“…This suggests that social support received from colleagues and supervisors may be an important component for the promotion of this competence. This is in line with previous research (Mikkola et al, ) which has reported that social support at work among physicians can act as an important problem‐solving tool (because it includes sharing knowledge, experiences, opinions, and practical tips), resulting in reduced work stress and increased learning.…”

“…Moreover, because high‐strain jobs (Holman & Wall, ; Taris & Feij, ) and a lack of social support (La Fleur & Salthouse, ) can hamper learning and learning‐related outcomes, it is possible that working in high‐strain and high‐strain isolated jobs could prevent the acquisition of cross‐cultural competence. On the other hand, active jobs (Hausser et al, ; Taris & Kompier, ) and social support (Mikkola, Suutala, & Parviainen, ) are likely to facilitate and promote work‐related learning, thus active and active collective jobs could be positively associated with cross‐cultural competence.…”

Burnout and perceived social support: The mediating role of secondary traumatization in nurses vs. physicians

“…It seems that when working with children who have chronic or acute conditions within a paediatric unit, managing the stressful environment may be complex for nurses and physicians alike given the age of the patient. Namely, nurses and physicians encounter similar job properties, including direct and indirect exposure to the medical and psychological consequences of severe illness, accidental death and injury, life‐threatening events and child and family distress (Al‐Youbi & Jan, ; López Franco et al, ; Robins Meltzer, & Zelikovsky, ; Taubman–Ben‐Ari & Weintroub, ), alongside excessive workload and limited possibilities to control it (Mikkola, Suutala, & Parviainen, ). These work conditions, in turn, may deplete their resources and lead to exhaustion, which might increase the likelihood of developing specific negative consequences like STS.…”

“…direct exposure to the medical and psychological consequences of severe illness, accidental death and injury, life-threatening events and child and family distress (Al-Youbi & Jan, 2013; López Franco et al, 2005; Robins Meltzer, & Zelikovsky, 2009; Taubman-Ben-Ari & Weintroub, 2008), alongside excessive workload and limited possibilities to control it(Mikkola, Suutala, & Parviainen, 2018). These work conditions, in turn, may deplete their resources and lead to exhaustion, which might increase the likelihood of developing specific negative consequences like STS.…”

How can the training of medical residents be improved? Three suggestions

“…However, the atmosphere of the clinic, how should I put it, is, so to say, challenging. (R10) Social support from both leaders and co-workers is an important aspect of medical work, since it promotes physicians' well-being and stress management; it also provides many other advantages, such as job satisfaction and commitment (see Mikkola, Suutala and Parviainen, 2018). One option to increase peer support during specialisation would be a system whereby the residents would work in pairs, at least in some phases of workplace learning.…”