Abstract
BackgroundNursing is an emotionally demanding profession and deficiencies in nurses’ mental wellbeing, characterised by low vitality and common mental disorders, have been linked to low productivity, absenteeism and presenteeism. Part of a larger study of nurses’ health, the aim of this paper was to describe the mental health status and related characteristics of nurses working in two acute metropolitan teaching hospitals.MethodsA cross sectional survey design was used.The Registered and Enrolled Nurse workforce, employed on any form of contract, at two teaching hospitals in Sydney Australia were invited to participate. The survey tool was compiled of validated tools and questions. Family and medical history and health risk-related characteristics, current psycho-active medications, smoking status, alcohol intake, eating disorders, self-perceived general health, mental health and vitality, demographic, social and occupational details were collected.ResultsA total of 1215 surveys were distributed with a usable response rate of 382 (31.4%). Altogether 53 nurses (14%) reported a history of mental health disorders, of which n = 49 (13%) listed diagnoses of anxiety and/or depression; 22 (6%) were currently taking psychoactive medication. Symptoms that could potentially indicate a mental health issue were more common, with 248 (65.1%) reporting they had experienced symptoms sometimes or often in the last 12 month.Nurses had better mental health if they had better general health, lived with a spouse/ partner rather than alone, had fewer symptoms, sleep problems or disordered eating behaviours, were not an informal carer and did not work nights. Nurses had greater vitality if they were male, had better general health, fewer sleep problems or symptoms generally and lived with a spouse/ partner rather than alone; less vitality if they were an informal carer or had disordered eating.ConclusionNurses and their managers should strive to create workplaces where working practices promote nurses’ health and wellbeing, or at least are configured to minimise deleterious effects; where both nurses and their managers are aware of the potential for negative effects on the mental health of the workforce; where cultures are such that this can be discussed openly without fear of stigma or denigration.
Highlights
Nursing is an emotionally demanding profession and deficiencies in nurses’ mental wellbeing, characterised by low vitality and common mental disorders, have been linked to low productivity, absenteeism and presenteeism
Anxiety and depressive disorders are known as common mental disorders (CMD) [4]; CMD, substance abuse, workplace aggression, stress and burnout have all been reported in the nursing occupational health literature [5,6,7]
Nurses’ absenteeism and presenteeism may result from low vitality and CMDs, which in this study were linked to poor health behaviours
Summary
Nursing is an emotionally demanding profession and deficiencies in nurses’ mental wellbeing, characterised by low vitality and common mental disorders, have been linked to low productivity, absenteeism and presenteeism. Perry et al BMC Nursing (2015) 14:15 repeatedly been reported amongst nurses [7,8,9] In this context vitality is defined as a sense of general wellbeing, optimism and flourishing, and can be considered to represent the opposite end of a spectrum to stress and burnout [10]. Low vitality and CMDs may result from a variety of workplace, organisational and individual factors [11,12] These include working environments where nurses lack autonomy and discretion, and where access to support and learning is limited [13]; where high levels of emotional exhaustion and burnout occur [14]; where nurses experience frequent workplace stress [15,16], high workloads and low reward [17], and where rotational shift patterns result in poor sleep patterns [18]. Mental health repercussions may occur where nurses are subjected to high public and professional expectations [19], workplace violence [5,20] and role conflict [21]; in environments where there is high patient mortality, traumatic events or situations [22] and conflict with physicians [23]
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