P02 Surgeon's narcissism, hostility, stress and meaning in life

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Disruptive physician behaviour can affect patients’ safety. If surgical trainees throughout higher education experience disruptive behaviour, impaired work-life may follow. Therefore, we studied if surgeons were prone to disruptive behaviour in form of narcissism (N), hostility, perceived stress and the presence of meaning in life. Methods General surgeons in UK National Health Service from 2 hospitals participated with 3 level of training: senior house officer (SHO), specialist registrars (SPR) and consultants (CONS). Participants completed 52 VAS-formed questions plus demographics. Modified questionnaires were used for assessments of ‘Hostility’, ‘Narcissism’, Meaning in life, Quality of work-life and bullying. Results Altogether 33% of surgeons displayed narcissism and 22% could exhibit disruptive behaviour. By MANOVA significant differences between low, medium and high N groups was revealed in hostility (p<.01), perceived stress (p=.001), presence of meaning in life (p<.05). Regression analyses explained hostility both by N-scale (p=.000) and ‘being bullied during training’(p=.009) but negatively by ‘presence of meaning in life’(p=.004). Surgeons’ perceived stress was explained both by N-scale (p=.000) followed by ‘seeing others bullied during training (p=.000) and negatively by ‘working extra days beyond schedule’ (p=.007). Presence of meaning in life was explained mostly by ‘(eu)stress’ (p= .000) but negatively both by ‘doing extra work beyond schedule’ (p= .016) and hostility (p= .003). Conclusion Surgeons may exhibit disruptive behaviour in a challenging situation. Being bullied during surgical training predicted hostility. Seeing others being bullied during surgical training predicted stress. Eustress explained best surgeons’ experience of presence of meaning in life.