Abstract
Psychological distress have been found to be high and influence negatively nurses’ and teachers’ work. In this nine-year project, we present the first longitudinal study comparing psychological distress from 1467 students and young professionals in nursing and teaching. Psychological distress was measured with GHQ 12 at the start and the end of their studies and three and six years after graduation. Both descriptive statistics and estimated models were used to assess psychological distress over time. Psychological distress increased significantly in both groups during education. The reduction of psychological distress was significant among the nurses, and they clearly showed a “healthy worker effect” when coming into clinical work. The teachers had a small and non-significant reduction in the same period and did not show a positive effect after starting pedagogical work.
Highlights
Psychological distress have been found to be high and influence negatively nurses’ and teachers’ work
Students were followed through school and into positions as young professionals
Nurses appear to profit more than teachers from the initial years of work experience and are, may be, in line with a “healthy worker effect” (Goodwin et al, 2013; Li & Sung, 1999) which presumes lower levels of psychological distress due to work challenges
Summary
Psychological distress have been found to be high and influence negatively nurses’ and teachers’ work In this nine-year project, we present the first longitudinal study comparing psychological distress from 1467 students and young professionals in nursing and teaching. Psychological distress was measured with GHQ 12 at the start and the end of their studies and three and six years after graduation. The two largest welfare professions in Norway have, never been compared in longitudinal study that assesses their psychological distress. Similar findings are presented in research on the development of lay helpers, students, and young professionals in the helping disciplines (Rønnestad & Skovholt, 2012; Skovholt, 2005; Skovholt & Trotter-Mathison, 2014) They found that anxiety was common during the study time, and represents a risk of stagnation in professional development. The study brings new knowledge to the literature on these professions
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