Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale Research Articles

Zamor suosjećanja i sagorijevanje kod stručnjaka u području tretmana ovisnosti tijekom pandemije COVID-19

The aim of this research was to determine the levels of compassion fatigue and burnout in addiction workers and to assess the possibility of prediction of the variance of those variables using mental health workers' work stressors and experienced stress due to changes in working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the moderating effect of compassion satisfaction in the relationship between work stressors and compassion fatigue was tested. 126 addiction workers (79,7 % women) participated in this research. The following instruments were used: Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Professional Quality of Life Scale, Mental Health Professional Stress Scale, and Perceived Stress due to Changes in Working Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic Questionnaire, developed for the purpose of this study. Compassion fatigue (secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout) was determined by client-related difficulties, home-work conflict, relationship and conflicts with other professionals and organisational structure and processes. Burnout (OLBI) was determined by workload-related stress. Compassion satisfaction was found to have a moderating effect in the relationship between work stressors and compassion fatigue. Perceived stress due to changes in working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic predicted both secondary traumatic stress and burnout (OLBI).

Resilience and work-related stress among mental health nurses in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Work-related stress is harmful physical and emotional reactions that can occur when there is a conflict between an employee’s work needs and his or her level of control to meet those demands. Work-related stress can come from multiple causes, however, when stress occurs in unmanageable amounts for the nurse, mental and physical changes may occur. Resilience gives people the mental toughness to deal with stress, trauma, adversity, and difficulties. The study aimed to explore the level of work-related stress among mental health care nurses and their resilience capacity at Eradah & Mental Health Complex–Eradah Services (EMHC-ES) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional research design was utilized taking the responses of 172 nurses. The questionnaire encompassed the Mental Health Professional Stress Scale (MHPSS) 42 items assessed on a four-point Likert scale and the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10) 10-items assessed on a 5-point Likert scale. The results revealed a satisfactorily high level of resilience (M = 30.7 on a scale of 0-40) and a moderate level of stress among the participants (M = 1.86 on a scale of 0 to 3) with the mean subscale score was the highest for the workload associated stress and the lowest for the homework conflict-related stress. There was a near to significant correlation between the stress level and the resilience among the participants (p = .053). An appropriate strategy in health care organizations to assess stress, explore causes, and provide early management in mental health care settings is highly recommended.

An Audit and Quality Improvement Project Regarding the Management of Patients With Eating Disorders Within the West Glasgow CAMHS Team

AimsThere has been a significant increase in presentations of people with eating disorders (ED) within CAMHS in relation to the pandemic with a significant pressure on services to continue to provide evidence-based treatments for an expanding number of severely unwell patients. The first aim was to assess the quality of referrals received for patients with suspected ED and to then implement an intervention regarding the way that referrals are handled. The second aim was to establish a process for handling and monitoring patients already open to the service.MethodsAn initial and repeat survey was sent to staff within the team. The survey included the Mental Health Professional Stress Scale (MHPSS). An audit was conducted to establish the quality of referrals from GPs based on the Junior Marsipan guidelines. Data were collected on physical measures and the written content of referrals for March 2020–21 and March 2021–22.Duty clinicians were asked to screen referrals and prompt GPs to submit recordings of physical parameters for the referrals to be triaged. In addition, a weekly meeting in a “board round” format was implemented to discuss new referrals and 40–50 existing patients each week depending on risk. We developed a physical health monitoring clinic once per week.ResultsMHPSS scores remained high between initial and follow-up surveys, with slightly increased mean scores for workload, organisational structure and processes, and lack of resources. Referrals from 2020–2021 (N = 26) and those from 2021–2022 (N = 39) were screened. The majority had a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa. Most referrals had records of height and weight (73.1 to 82.1%). 53.8% of referrals in the re-audit period required prompting for physical recordings to be submitted. There was no change in the written content of referrals at re-audit, with only 46.2% recording risk, 51.3% recording estimated onset and 56.4% documenting body image.There was a slight reduction in the mean time between referral and diagnosis from 44.1 to 34.2 days. The weekly board round received positive feedback (N = 10) with 70–100% answering agree/strongly agree to statements such as manage patients’ care safely, obtaining urgent advice and physical monitoring.ConclusionThe processes summarised above have been successful in improving the efficiency surrounding the management of patients with ED. Unfortunately, there has been no improvement in the stress levels of staff; we hope to conduct a focus group to better understand this. A referral proforma should be developed by the wider service for GPs to complete.

Factors affecting the caring performance of newly graduated Nurses' working in critical care units.

Although many studies have discussed nurses' caring performance, few have focussed on critical care nurses. Also, none have studied this among newly graduated nurses despite their very different circumstances. The purpose of this study was to examine factors affecting the caring performance of newly graduated nurses in critical care units. A descriptive cross-sectional design, using self-reported questionnaires, was used among a sample of 209 nurses interviewed in Jordanian hospitals. The Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale was used for measuring work-related stress and the Caring Behaviours Assessment tool to assess caring performance. Data collection was conducted from March to May 2018. The participants had moderate levels of caring performance (M= 182.6/315, SD= 15.46). The highest score was reported for 'Supportive/Protective/Corrective Environment' subscale, while the lowest for 'Teaching/Learning' subscale. Many significant differences were noticed in caring performance based on participants' demographics. Only working in private hospitals was a significant predictor for caring performance (P< .05) predicting 14% of variance. Caring performance of newly graduated nurses in critical care units was affected by many factors including workload, self-doubt, income and area of working. The significance was flagged of developing nursing policies concerned with stress relief and improvement of caring performance.

Psychometric Properties of the Korean Version of the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale.

Background: Job stress of mental health professionals can have a negative impact on them, particularly their psychological health and mortality, and may also affect organizations' and institutions' ability to provide quality mental health services to patients.Aim: This study aimed to: (1) investigate the validity and reliability of the Korean Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (K-MHPSS), (2) develop K-MHPSS cut-off points to measure clinical depression and anxiety, and (3) examine whether specific stressors vary by area of expertise.Methodology: Data were collected via an online survey over 3 months, from August to October 2020. An online survey using a survey website was administered to volunteers who accessed the link and consented to participate. Data from 558 participants (200 clinical psychologists, 157 nurses, and 201 social workers) were included in the final analysis. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to examine the factor structure of the K-MHPSS; concurrent validity of the scale was determined by analyzing correlation; internal consistency was determined by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In addition, ROC curve analysis and Youden's index were used to estimate optimal cut-off points for K-MHPSS; one-way ANOVA was performed to investigate the difference among the three groups.Results: The seven-factor model of the original scale did not be replicated by Korean mental health professionals. The K-MHPSS had the best fit with the six-factor model, which consists of 34 items. Concurrent validity was confirmed, and overall reliability was found to be good. The K-MHPSS cut-off points for depression and anxiety appeared to slightly different by professional groups. Furthermore, nurses and social workers showed significantly higher total scores compared to clinical psychologists, and there are significant differences in subscale scores among professionals.Conclusion: The Korean version of the MHPSS has appropriate psychometric properties and can be used to assess the occupational stress of mental health professionals. It can also serve as a reference point for screening clinical level of depression and anxiety in mental health professionals.

The Moderating Role of Coping Strategies in Occupational Stress and Burnout among Mental Health Practitioners in Pakistan

The current study was aimed to observe the moderating role of coping strategies in occupational stress and burnout among mental health practitioners. It was also aimed to examine the relationship of demographic factors with occupational stress, burnout and coping strategies. Data was collected from 200 mental health practitioners (clinical psychologists and psychiatrists) from different government and private hospitals and rehabilitation centers situated in different cities of Pakistan. Three scales were used in the research, that is, Mental Health Professional Stress Scale to measure occupational stress, Brief Cope to measure coping strategies and Maslcah Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey to assess burnout. The results indicated that there is a strong positive correlation between occupational stress, burnout and emotion focused coping strategies. The analyses showed that coping strategies did not moderate the relation between occupational stress and burnout. In demographic variables, the variables of age, education, experience and work hours were significant. Younger mental health practitioners scored high on occupational stress, burnout and use of emotion focused coping strategies than older ones. In qualification and experience, less qualified and less experienced practitioners had more occupational stress, burnout and used emotion focused coping strategies than more qualified and more experienced practitioners. Those practitioners whose working hours were less had low occupational stress and burnout and used problem focused coping strategies.

The Impact of Mindfulness Meditation in Promoting a Culture of Safety on an Acute Psychiatric Unit

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on managing work stress and improving patient outcomes. A one-group pre-/post-test design was used to measure the impact of the MBSR program. The Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale, the Sense of Self Scale, the Toronto Mindfulness Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory were used. The MBSR class assisted staff in decreasing their stress levels and improve their self-care, which resulted in improved patient care. Increases in patient satisfaction and decreases in patient safety events were found.

Practitioners Who Work with Parents with Intellectual Disability: Stress, Coping and Training Needs

Background Challenges for practitioners who work with parents with intellectual disability arise from several sources. The purpose of the current study was to identify the stressors experienced by practitioners who work with parents with intellectual disability in Australia, investigate coping strategies and explore training needs so as to inform professional development for this group.Materials and Methods Fifty‐eight, predominantly female Australian practitioners, completed a questionnaire, which included a demographics section and training questions (developed specifically for this study), in addition to the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Brief COPE.Results The main stressors experienced by practitioners were workload, client‐related difficulties and organizational structure and processes. Although practitioners indicated that they required additional training in 15 areas, one area was highlighted as particularly important, that is, tailoring interventions to individual parent needs and goals.Conclusions It is suggested that managers, service planners, educators and professionals involved in stress reduction be aware that this area may be the focal point of future training of practitioners who work with parents with intellectual disability.

Can identified stressors be used to predict profession for mental health professionals?

A difference appears to exist between stressors reported for nurses and allied health professionals working in mental health. Prominent stressors for mental health nurses include workload, administration duties and a lack of resources. Whilst these also appear to be stressors for allied health professionals, the stressor 'professional self-doubt' has also been reported for social workers. This study aimed to examine the extent to which community mental health professionals could be identified as belonging to the nursing profession or an allied health profession based on their perceived sources of stress. Ninety-eight community mental health nurses and 85 allied health professionals working in Victoria's public mental health services completed the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale. Discriminant analysis was utilised to test the predictive value of stressors to identify profession. The main stressors reported by nurses were workload, a lack of resources and organisational problems. For allied health professionals the highest reported stressors were workload, a lack of resources, client related difficulties and organisational problems. Mental health professionals in this study could not be identified as belonging to the nursing profession or an allied health profession based on their identified sources of stress. It could well be reflective of the shift to homogenous roles in mental health services. With this being the case, there may be benefits in implementing stress reducing strategies at an organisational level.

Situational levels of burnout among staff in six European inpatient and community mental health teams

Working in mental health services has always been recognised as a stressful occupation and many studies have attested to the high levels of stress and burnout. This study examined comparative levels of stress among inpatient and community mental health staff across five European countries.Using a quasi experimental pre‐test post‐test design, data was collected from staff at baseline, six months and 12 months. This paper examines data from the baseline period. Staff working in acute inpatient wards and community mental health teams in Denmark (Aarhus, Storstrøm), Finland (Tampere), Norway (Bodo), Poland (Warsaw) and the UK (Cambridge), were asked to complete the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Maslach, &amp; Jackson, 1986), the Mental Health Professional Stress Scale (Cushway, Tyler &amp; Nolan, 1996) and a demographic questionnaire designed for this study. Results on the MBI are reported in this article. Both community and inpatient teams reported high levels of burnout. There was evidence to suggest that burnout differed by site but not by team type. The English teams scored highest in emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Relatively high levels of work‐related personal accomplishment were reported across all of the sites.

Sources of stress experienced by occupational therapists and social workers in mental health settings

This study examined the sources of stress experienced by occupational therapists and social workers employed in Australian public mental health services and identified the demographic and work-related factors related to stress using a cross-sectional survey design. Participants provided demographic and work-related information and completed the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale. The overall response rate to the survey was 76.6%, consisting of 196 occupational therapists and 108 social workers. Results indicated that lack of resources, relationships and conflicts with other professionals, workload, and professional self-doubt were correlated with increased stress. Working in case management was associated with stress caused by client-related difficulties, lack of resources, and professional self-doubt. The results of this study suggest that Australian occupational therapists and social workers experience stress, with social workers reporting slightly more overall stress than occupational therapists.

Stressors, burnout and social support: nurses in acute mental health settings

This paper reports a study which aims (1) to investigate and compare levels of stressors and burnout of qualified and unqualified nursing staff in acute mental health settings; (2) to examine the relationships between stressors and burnout and (3) to assess the impact of social support on burnout and stressor-burnout relationships. Several studies have noted that the work of mental health nurses can be highly stressful, but relatively few have focused specifically on staff working in acute inpatient settings. Although many of the pressures faced by this group are similar to those in other nursing specialties, a number of demands relate specifically to mental health settings, including the often intense nature of nurse-patient interaction and dealing with difficult and challenging patient behaviours on a regular basis. A convenience sample of 93 nursing staff from 11 acute adult mental health wards completed the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory and House and Wells Social Support Scale. Lack of adequate staffing was the main stressor reported by qualified staff, while dealing with physically threatening, difficult or demanding patients was the most stressful aspect for unqualified staff. Qualified nurses reported significantly higher workload stress than unqualified staff. Approximately half of all nursing staff showed signs of high burnout in terms of emotional exhaustion. A variety of stressors were positively correlated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Higher levels of support from co-workers were related to lower levels of emotional exhaustion. Higher stressor scores were associated with higher levels of depersonalization for staff reporting high levels of social support, but not for those reporting low levels of support (a reverse buffering effect). Qualified and unqualified nursing staff differed in terms of the prominence given to individual stressors in their work environment. The findings were consistent with the notion of burnout developing in response to job-related stressors. While staff support groups may be useful in alleviating feelings of burnout, the reverse buffering effect suggests that they should be structured in a way that minimizes negative communication and encourages staff to discuss their concerns in a constructive way.

Is Discrepancy between Actual and Preferred Work Activities a Factor in Work-Related Stress for Mental Health Occupational Therapists and Social Workers?

In the Western developed nations, the changing pattern of mental health care provision has necessitated mental health staff adopting new approaches to service delivery across a diverse and expanding range of service settings. The impact of changed service delivery on Australian mental health professionals is an area that has not been well studied. The aim of the study was to identify the current clinical work activities performed by occupational therapists and social workers and whether there was a discrepancy between the actual and preferred work activities. The study also aimed to identify whether any discrepancy between their actual and preferred clinical work activities was associated with higher levels of stress. A cross-sectional survey of 304 (response rate 76.6%) occupational therapists and social workers in Australian mental health services was conducted. A work activities scale developed specifically for this study and the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale were used to measure actual and preferred work activities and stress respectively. Both groups experienced a discrepancy between their actual and preferred work activities, with the occupational therapists and the social workers mostly wanting to undertake a diverse range of activities to a significantly greater extent than they currently were. As predicted, stress was associated with the discrepancy between the kind of work that the participants wanted to do and the kind of work that their job actually entailed. Health workers require assistance to adapt to their new work roles and to achieve a balance between generic and discipline-specific competencies. This has implications for education and professional training.

Self perceived work related stress and the relation with salivary IgA and lysozyme among emergency department nurses

Aims: To assess and compare the self perceived work related stress among emergency department (ED) and general ward (GW) nurses, and to investigate its relation with salivary IgA and lysozyme....

Salivary Cortisol Levels and Work-Related Stress Among Emergency Department Nurses

The objective of this study was to assess and compare the self-perceived work-related stress of emergency department (ED) and general ward (GW) nurses and to assess the relationship between self-perceived stress and salivary cortisol levels in these groups of nurses. Seventy-three female ED (n = 23) and GW (n = 50) nurses from a general hospital completed a self-administered questionnaire. A modified mental health professional stress scale (PSS) was used to measure self-perceived work-related stress. Salivary samples were collected at the start and end of morning shiftwork. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was used to determine the salivary cortisol concentration (nmol/L). ED nurses perceived that nursing was more stressful (mean, 1.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.35 to 1.81) than did GW nurses (mean, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.18 to 1.40). On the PSS subscales, scores of organizational structure and process, lack of resources, and conflict with other professionals were higher in ED nurses (all P < 0.01). The morning cortisol was significantly lower in ED (geometric mean, 9.10; 95% CI, 6.62 to 12.42 nmol/L) than in GW (geometric mean, 15.45; 95% CI, 11.86 to 20.14 nmol/L) nurses. Log morning salivary cortisol was negatively correlated with PSS (r = -0.255), scores of organizational structure and process, and conflict with other professionals (all P < 0.05). The difference between morning and afternoon cortisol concentration in ED nurses (geometric mean, 6.35; 95% CI 4.14 to 9.93 nmol/L) was lower than in GW nurses (geometric mean, 12.42; 95% CI, 9.38 to 16.28 nmol/L). The log value of the difference correlated marginally with PSS (r = -0.21, P = 0.07) and significantly with scores of organizational structure and process, lack of resources, and conflict with other professionals (all P < 0.05). There was no difference between the two groups in afternoon salivary cortisol level. ED nurses perceived more stress compared with GW nurses. Morning salivary cortisol concentration is better correlated with PSS compared with the morning-afternoon salivary cortisol difference. The result raises the possibility of using a single morning salivary cortisol sample to reflect self-perceived stress.

A Comparative Study of Stress Among Forensic and Acute Mental Health Nurses

This study sought to address one of the most critical issues that mental health professionals endure in modern health care, namely stress at work. Though it has been discussed for some time in the literature relating to mental health services, it still remains one of the biggest impediments to the provision of high quality care. In this study, two groups of mental health nurses were compared: forensic and acute mental health nurses. Stress levels were ascertained using a standardised assessment tool, the Mental Health Professional Stress Scale (MHPSS). Though both groups reported high levels of stress, no significant differences were found between them. Though both groups perceived certain aspects of their work as being stressful, each group identified different causes for stress within their respective work environments. This paper discusses some of the implications of these findings and highlights the importance of protecting staff from unpropitious work environments and burn‐out.

Factor structure of the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (MHPSS) among clinical psychologists in India.

This study examined the factor structure of the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (MHPSS) and its reliability and validity in a sample of 116 clinical psychologists in India. Principal component analysis of the MHPSS identified four factors that accounted for 42.2% of the total variance. These 4 factors reflected 6 of the 7 original subscales. The subscale 'Client-related difficulties' did not emerge as a distinct factor. The authors attribute this to cultural differences in the therapist-patient relationship. The MHPSS correlated negatively with measures of professional role satisfaction and subjective well being. It was concluded that the MHPSS is a reliable and valid tool to measure sources of occupational stress experienced by mental health professionals.

Development of a stress scale for mental health professionals.

This paper describes the development of the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (MHPSS): a self-report method of identifying sources of stress for mental health professionals. The 42-item scale, which includes seven subscales, was administered to 154 clinical psychologists and 111 mental health nurses. The MHPSS was found to have good internal consistency (alpha = .87 for clinical psychologists; alpha = .94 for mental health nurses). The preliminary evidence suggests that the concurrent validity of the MHPSS is good. The expected relationships between the scale and between the criterion measures--General Health Questionnaire, a symptom check list, job satisfaction, self-reported stress level and quality of social support--were demonstrated. The results also provide evidence for the discriminant validity of the subscales to measure different aspects of the stress experience. The MHPSS was shown to discriminate between two groups of health professionals who might be expected to differ in their sources of stress. For clinical psychologists the most important source of stress was 'professional self-doubt' whereas the major source of stress for mental health nurses was found to be the difficulty of handling potentially violent or difficult patients in the context of scarce staff resources. For both groups, however, 'home-work conflict' was the subscale most strongly and consistently associated with mental health outcome. It is concluded that the preliminary evidence regarding the utility of the MHPSS is encouraging, although further data are clearly needed.

A measurement tool for assessing stress among mental health nurses.

There is growing evidence that nursing is a stressful occupation, particularly mental health nursing. However, the lack of an appropriate measurement tool has meant it has been difficult to investigate the nature of this stress. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of one such scale for measuring stress in mental health nurses, the Mental Health Professional Stress Scale. A total of six questionnaires was sent to a sample of 210 community and hospital mental health nurses. The findings suggested that the scale was a useful measure and predictor of stress. The most consistent predictor of poor mental health outcomes for nurses was home/work conflict, outweighing the significance of client/patient-related difficulties.