Abstract
Background:Nurses frequently face ethically demanding situations in their work, and these may lead to stress of conscience. Working life is currently accelerating and job demands are intensifying. These intensified job demands include (1) work intensification, (2) intensified job-related planning demands, (3) intensified career-related planning demands, and (4) intensified learning demands. At the same time, many healthcare organizations are implementing major organizational changes that have an influence on personnel.Aim:The aim of the study was to investigate the association between intensified job demands and stress of conscience, and whether their association is moderated by organizational change experiences among nurses. Experiences of organizational change may expose employees to stress of conscience or serve as a buffer because employees appraise, involve, and cope with changes differently.Research design:Questionnaires measuring stress of conscience, intensified job demands, and organizational change experiences were completed by nurses (n = 511) in a healthcare district undergoing a major organizational change.Ethical considerations:Throughout, the study procedures were implemented according to the guidelines of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. According to the Finnish regulations, because participation was voluntary, informed consent was requested, and participants were advised of their right to withdraw from the study at will. No permission from an ethics committee was necessary.Findings:Work intensification and personal worry considering organizational change were associated with more severe stress of conscience among nurses. Nurses’ experiences of managements’ competent handling of organizational change buffered the association between work intensification and stress of conscience.Conclusions:During organizational changes, management may alleviate nurses’ stress of conscience by proper communication and support procedures.
Highlights
Healthcare is primarily a moral endeavor because its aim is to do good or the right thing for patients.[1]
Considering stress of conscience frequency, we report here exclusively the findings from the third step of the regression analysis as these take into account the power of intensified job demands (IJDs) and experiences of organizational change when all variables are included in the model
Among nurses (Table 3), 28% variance in stress of conscience frequency was explained by shift work, work intensification, and worry about organizational change, whereas older age and positive experiences of organizational change management contributed negatively to frequency of stress of conscience
Summary
Healthcare is primarily a moral endeavor because its aim is to do good or the right thing for patients.[1]. Despite constantly intensifying working life and organizational changes in healthcare organizations, we lack research evidence on how these phenomena are experienced from an ethical perspective, here, regarding stress of conscience among healthcare personnel. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the association between intensified job demands and stress of conscience, and whether their association is moderated by organizational change experiences among nurses. Research design: Questionnaires measuring stress of conscience, intensified job demands, and organizational change experiences were completed by nurses (n 1⁄4 511) in a healthcare district undergoing a major organizational change. Nurses’ experiences of managements’ competent handling of organizational change buffered the association between work intensification and stress of conscience. Conclusions: During organizational changes, management may alleviate nurses’ stress of conscience by proper communication and support procedures
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