Abstract

BackgroundThe regret intensity scale (RIS) and the regret coping scale for healthcare professionals (RCS-HCP) working in hospitals assess the experience of care-related regrets and how healthcare professional deal with these negative events. The aim of this study was to validate a German version of the RIS and the RCS-HCP.MethodsThe RIS and RCS-HCP in German were first translated into German (forward- and backward translations) and then pretested with 16 German-speaking healthcare professionals. Finally, two surveys (test and 1-month retest) administered the scales to a large sample of healthcare professionals from two different hospitals.ResultsOf the 2142 eligible healthcare professionals, 494 (23.1%) individuals (108 physicians) completed the cross-sectional web based survey and 244 completed the retest questionnaire. Participants (n = 165, 33.4% of the total sample) who reported not having experienced a regret in the last 5 years, had significantly more days of sick leave during the last 6 months. These participants were excluded from the subsequent analyses. The structure of the scales was similar to the French version with a single dimension for the regret intensity scale (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.88) and three types of coping strategies for the regret coping scale (alphas: 0.69 for problem-focused strategies, 0.67 for adaptive strategies and 0.86 for the maladaptive strategies). Construct validity was good and reproduced the findings of the French study, namely that higher regret intensity was associated with situations that entailed more consequences for the patients. Furthermore, higher regret intensity and more frequent use of maladaptive strategies were associated with more sleep difficulties and less work satisfaction.ConclusionsThe German RIS and RCS-HCP scales were found valid for measuring regret intensity and regret coping in a population of healthcare professionals working in a hospital. Reporting no regret, which corresponds to the coping strategy of suppression, seems to be a maladaptive strategy because it was associated with more frequent sick day leaves.

Highlights

  • The regret intensity scale (RIS) and the regret coping scale for healthcare professionals (RCS-HCP) working in hospitals assess the experience of care-related regrets and how healthcare professional deal with these negative events

  • These instruments were found valid for measuring regret intensity and regret coping in a population of physicians and other healthcare professionals working in a hospital

  • The Conclusions The German version of the RIS and RCS- HCP are valid and reliable instruments to assess regret intensity and the use of coping strategies among healthcare professionals working in hospitals

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Summary

Introduction

The regret intensity scale (RIS) and the regret coping scale for healthcare professionals (RCS-HCP) working in hospitals assess the experience of care-related regrets and how healthcare professional deal with these negative events. How healthcare professionals respond to disparate groups of patients is a challenge, as well as how they deal with the contradictory needs of being empathic clinicians and dealing with the emotional burden of patients’ suffering, Regret is a frequent emotional experience, which may be defined as a psychological state following an experience where one believes that the outcome would have been better if one had acted differently [6]. Richner et al Health and Quality of Life Outcomes (2017) 15:56 develops in situations where healthcare professionals cannot fulfill what they believe to be the optimal care for their patients. To cope with feelings of regret, people may use various strategies: the main distinction among coping strategies is problem-focused versus emotion-focused [8, 9]. Problem-focused coping strategies are directed towards reducing or eliminating a stressor or solving the situation, whereas emotion-focused coping strategies are directed towards changing one's own emotional reaction to the situation

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