Testing the impact of emotional labor on work exhaustion for three distinct emergency medical service (EMS) samples

Blau, Gary; Bentley, Melissa; Eggerichs-Purcell, Jennifer

doi:10.1108/13620431211283788

Cited by 39 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…For example, one type of deep acting technique is cognitive change which involves reappraisal of a situation to lessen its emotional impact, for example, thinking about how a patient would feel. 18 Decreased perceived physical health was related to higher intent to leave the EMS profession 12,16 as well as work exhaustion. 18 The EMS work is physically demanding.…”

Section: Importance Of Understanding Why Ems Professionals Leave the mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…18 Decreased perceived physical health was related to higher intent to leave the EMS profession 12,16 as well as work exhaustion. 18 The EMS work is physically demanding. Studnek et al 21 found that 26% of their large EMS sample was obese and that three-quarters of the respondents did not meet the Center for Disease Control recommendations for physical activity.…”

Section: Importance Of Understanding Why Ems Professionals Leave the mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research indicates that the emotional labor (surface acting and deep acting) involved in being an EMS professional can play a role in such exhaustion. 18 In addition, for both EMT-Basic and EMTParamedic samples, years of service were positively related to work exhaustion, while job satisfaction was negatively related. Work exhaustion has been linked to leaving one's occupation in other allied health samples.…”

Section: The Role Of Stress In Ems Retentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the interpersonal demands on EMS professionals, emotional labor can be part of the stress in any traumatic situation, and surface acting is more detrimental to job satisfaction and increasing work exhaustion than deep acting. 18 Making EMS professionals more aware of emotional labor including surface acting versus deep acting and the potential negative impact of surface acting via ongoing voluntary or state-required continuing education is recommended to enhance retention. At the same time, such continuing education could help EMS professionals to further develop their deep acting skills (via role plays).…”

Section: Importance Of Understanding Why Ems Professionals Leave the mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why do Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Professionals Leave EMS?

Blau

Chapman

2016

Prehosp. Disaster med.

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Objective: The objective was to determine why Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-Basics and Paramedics leave the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workforce. Methods: Data were collected through annual surveys of nationally registered EMT-Basics and Paramedics from 1999 to 2008. Survey items dealing with satisfaction with the EMS profession, likelihood of leaving the profession, and likelihood of leaving their EMS job were assessed for both EMT-Basics and Paramedics, along with reasons for leaving the profession. Individuals whose responses indicated that they were not working in EMS were mailed a special exit survey to determine the reasons for leaving EMS. Results: The likelihood of leaving the profession in the next year was low for both EMT-Basics and Paramedics. Although overall satisfaction levels with the profession were high, EMT-Basics were significantly more satisfied than Paramedics. The most important reasons for leaving the profession were choosing to pursue further education and moving to a new location. A desire for better pay and benefits was a significantly more important reason for EMT-Paramedics' exit decisions than for EMT-Basics. Conclusions: Given the anticipated increased demand for EMS professionals in the next decade, continued study of issues associated with retention is strongly recommended. Some specific recommendations and suggestions for promoting retention are provided. IntroductionRetention is an ongoing and important issue for the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workforce.1 The costs of replacing EMS professionals include recruitment, selection, and training, as well as "lost productivity" as new EMS professionals catch up to the performance levels of experienced professionals leaving EMS.2 The demand for additional EMS workers is expected to increase in the future. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS; Washington, DC USA) projects a need for an additional 62,000 Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)-Basics and Paramedics in the next decade to fill new jobs and replace workers who leave the profession.3 Given this projected demand, studying why EMTBasics and Paramedics leave EMS is important, and is the goal of this paper.General work psychology research has long-acknowledged five types of distinct interrole work transitions: entry (into the workforce); intracompany (transfer); intercompany (leave organization but remain in profession); interprofession (leave profession); and exit (leave workforce). 4 Patterson et al 5 studied turnover and the cost of turnover by following a convenience sample of 40 EMS agencies over a 6-month period. Results showed a lowerthan-expected overall weighted mean annual job turnover rate of 10.7%, with slight variations depending on staff mix. Job turnover rate was measured by combining voluntary quits and involuntary terminations. It is not known if the job leavers also left the EMS profession. Research suggests that it is generally easier to leave one's job and stay in that profession than to leave one's job and profession due to the "sunk cost...

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Section: Importance Of Understanding Why Ems Professionals Leave the mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Importance Of Understanding Why Ems Professionals Leave the mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Role Of Stress In Ems Retentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Importance Of Understanding Why Ems Professionals Leave the mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why do Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Professionals Leave EMS?

Blau

Chapman

2016

Prehosp. Disaster med.

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“…HEMS pilots were considered an appropriate population for this study's purposes because of their demanding psychosocial work environment. Their work requires high cognitive effort 25) and includes high emotional demands 26) and a highly unpredictable workload. Irrespective of their demanding work characteristics, HEMS pilots reported relatively high levels of wellbeing in a previous study which suggests that they were healthy and felt competent to do their jobs 27) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Work Stressors, Perseverative Cognition and Objective Sleep Quality: A Longitudinal Study among Dutch Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) Pilots

Radstaak

Geurts

Beckers

et al. 2014

Journal of Occupational Health

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Work Stressors, Perseverative Cognition and Objective Sleep Quality: A Longitudinal Study among Dutch Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) Pilots: Mirjam RADSTAAK, et al. Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands— Objectives This longitudinal study examined the associations between work stressors, perseverative cognition and subjective and objective sleep quality. We hypothesized work stressors to be associated with (i) poor nocturnal sleep quality and (ii) higher levels of perseverative cognition during a free evening. We further hypothesized (iii) perseverative cognition to be associated with poor nocturnal sleep quality and (iv) the association between work stressors and sleep quality to be mediated by perseverative cognition. Methods The participants were 24 pilots working for the Dutch Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS). They completed six questionnaires: at the end of three consecutive day shifts and each morning following the shifts. The questionnaires addressed work stressors (workload, distressing shifts and work‐related conflicts), subjective sleep quality and perseverative cognition. Participants wore actigraphs to assess sleep onset latency, total sleep time and number of awakenings. Results Correlation analysis revealed that (i) distressing shifts were related to delayed sleep onset (r=0.50, p=0.026) and that workload was related to impaired sleep quality (e.g., subjective sleep quality: r=−0.42, p=0.044). Moreover, (ii) distressing shifts were positively related to perseverative cognition (r=0.62, p=0.002), (iii) perseverative cognition delayed sleep onset (r=0.74, p<0.001) and (iv) mediated the association between distressing shifts and sleep onset latency. Conclusions Perseverative cognition may be an explanatory mechanism in the association between work stressors and poor sleep.

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Big Fish in a Small Pond: How Overqualified Volunteers Act

Miao,

Pan,

et al. 2024

Voluntas

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Testing the impact of emotional labor on work exhaustion for three distinct emergency medical service (EMS) samples

Cited by 39 publications

References 64 publications

Why do Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Professionals Leave EMS?

Why do Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Professionals Leave EMS?

Work Stressors, Perseverative Cognition and Objective Sleep Quality: A Longitudinal Study among Dutch Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) Pilots

Big Fish in a Small Pond: How Overqualified Volunteers Act

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