Perceptions Of Work Environment Research Articles

To stay or leave: Public health nurse workforce retention in North Carolina.

To better understand retention in the NC Public Health Nurses (PHNs) workforce through an assessment of perceptions of the working environment, stress, intent to stay, and job satisfaction. A cross-sectional online survey using closed and open-ended questions. The study population comprised of non-supervisory PHNs (n=672) working at NC local health departments (LHD). Retention problem, working environment, and job satisfaction measures were adapted from the revised Casey-Fink Registered Nurse Retention Survey© (2009) to fit public health settings. Despite high levels of job satisfaction (79.76%, n=473), 53% of respondents (n=323) acknowledged a retention problem within their LHD; 35.32% (n=203) planned to/considered leaving their position in the next 3 years for reasons other than retirement. ANOVAs and Kruskal Wallis Test results showed that those planning to leave had statistically lower scores on perceived working environment and job satisfaction and demonstrated higher negative stress levels. Like other states, NC is experiencing a PHN shortages predicted to worsen in coming years. To retain the current workforce, LHDs need to work to improve PHNs working environment, increase PHNs' pay, and alleviate stressors.

The Perception of Quality Nursing Work Environment among Hospital Nurses

Background: Nurses, the more significant health care provider, need an excellent work environment that adequately expresses their skills and knowledge on providing optimum care quality outcomes to the patients. Objective: This study aimed to determine the current state of the nurses’ perceived work environment quality and examine differences in perceived work environment quality among nurses with different characteristics. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional correlation design and a probability sampling method recruit 334 hospital nurses. The self-report questionnaire scale of the Quality Nursing Work Environment (QNWE) was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, variant analysis (ANOVA), independent-sample t-test, and Pearson correlation were utilized to analyze comprehensive data. Result: The participants reported a perceived moderate level of quality of the work environment. The perceived QNWE levels were found to differ across participants' ages statistically (p<0.05), work experience (p<0.01), and department (p<0.05). Most participants rated their working environment as high quality on the domain Professional specialization and cooperation (M=2.81; SD=0.53). Contrarily, the responses to domain 2, Staff quality, were ranked lower (M= 3.32; SD=0.63). Nurses who worked in the special care units and had three years or more experience perceived lower work environment quality than others did. Recommendation: The finding of this study can be utilized as a guideline to the policymakers, hospital administrators, nurse supervisors, and educators to determine areas to improve nurses' work environment; which could translate into a significant improvement in patient outcome

141 Effectiveness of De-escalation Training in the Emergency Department

Managing agitated patients in the emergency department (ED) can cause a significant amount of anxiety to providers. Traditionally, medical staff were trained to use physical and/or chemical restraints as a first step approach when treating this patient population. Recent literature now encourages a greater emphasis on the use of de-escalation techniques, where the physician and patient work together to help the patient manage his or her emotions and behavior. Currently, there is a gap in knowledge on how to provide effective de-escalation training for emergency medicine providers and the training’s impact on patient care. The goal of this project is to better understand if interactive training on the crisis development model with a focus on verbal de-escalation techniques will increase the comfort levels of providers while caring for behavioral health patients in the ED. A secondary objective is to understand the staff’s perception of the ED working environment. Participants were selected from Penn State Medical Center ED physicians, residents, and mid-level providers who attended one of the de-escalation training seminars. Two 2-hour interactive training sessions consisting of didactics and interactive role-playing scenarios to practice the crisis development model were provided. Surveys containing qualitative and quantitative questions to analyze the course's effectiveness and to understand ED clinicians' experiences were completed by attendees immediately prior to and directly after the training. The results of this study will inform future de-escalation training practices within the ED. In the pilot study consisting of two training sessions, a total of 58 attendees completed the pre-training survey and 42 attendees completed the post-training survey. When the group was asked to rate their comfort level using verbal de-escalation techniques in the care of the ED behavioral health patient on a scale of 1-10 prior to and immediately after the training session, the average score increased from 5.9 to 7.5 with a p-value < 0.01. After the de-escalation course, 34 of 42 (76.2%) participants reported they would be less likely to immediately just to physical restraints p-value < 0.01 and 46 of 47 (97.9%) participants reported the de-escalation course helped them re-evaluate how they approach behavioral health patients p-value < 0.01. Participants reported the mode of being verbally insulted by patients in the ED was monthly and 38% responded they did not have any coping mechanisms to deal with this stress. The results of the initial pilot study indicate that the majority of attendees feel the de-escalation training taught as an interactive lecture has changed the way they will approach behavioral health patients. One limitation was that not all attendees completed the post-evaluation survey, which may have introduced biases in the results. Additionally, the current methods do not provide a means to examine whether the new skill set was actually implemented by clinicians. However, the high proportion of clinicians who self-reported that they would be implementing the techniques are extremely promising.

Psychological Distress and Work Environment Perception by Physical Therapists from Southern Italy during COVID-19 Pandemic: The C.A.L.A.B.R.I.A Study.

The psychosocial impact of the work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic on health professionals is a growing issue. The present study examined specific psychosocial work environment indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic, through a multiple regression model of a self-administered cross-sectional online survey in a cohort of physical therapists from a region of Southern Italy from March 2020 to May 2021. The questionnaire contained items on work and healthcare issues related to COVID-19. Eighty physical therapists (29 male and 51 female), mean age 32.5 ± 10.1 years, were involved in this survey. The multiple regression analysis showed that “management activity” was significantly correlated to “therapist frustration” during the COVID-19 pandemic (ΔR2 = 0.16; p < 0.03). Findings of this study underline the importance of a healthy psychosocial work environment to enhance job satisfaction of all health professionals and to avoid role conflict and burnout syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Licenced practical nurses' perceptions of their work environments and their intention to stay: A cross-sectional study of four practice settings.

Aims and objectivesThis study aimed to understand how licenced practical nurses perceive their work environments across different work settings and to analyse the association between these nurses’ perceptions of their work environments and their intentions to stay employed at their current nursing unit.DesignA cross‐sectional descriptive survey was conducted with Licensed Practical Nurses in Alberta, Canada.MethodsThe study population consisted of 598 licenced practical nurses. Survey measures included demographic information, the Perceived Work Environment‐Nursing Work Index, and an intention to stay scale. Descriptive statistics were calculated and mean scores for perceptions about the work environment were compared by work setting. The associations between perceived work environment and intention to stay were analysed using linear regression.ResultsOverall, licenced practical nurses rated their work environment as mixed, with statistically significantly lower scores in acute care settings. Nurse manager ability and adequate staffing and resources were the highest contributing variables.

All by myself: How perceiving organizational constraints when others do not hampers work engagement

Organizational constraints (OCs) represent work conditions that interfere with employees’ performance. Although employees share the same work environment, perceptions of OCs may vary among team members. In this study, we examined employee–teammate perceptual congruence and incongruence regarding three types of OCs (i.e., social, structural, and infrastructure) and the associated consequences for employee work engagement among health care employees from two Spanish hospitals (N = 141). Multilevel polynomial regression with response surface analyses revealed that the perceptual congruence and incongruence effects depended on the type of OCs. Congruence in perceptions was linked with greater work engagement only for social OCs. Incongruence had an effect in cases of social and structural OCs, but not infrastructure OCs: work engagement was worse when an employee rated OCs as higher (i.e., more problematic) than their teammates did. Our findings suggest that the negative effects of OCs are additionally exacerbated by perceptual incongruence with teammates and indicate the need to include social contexts in the study of work environment perceptions.

The impact of perceived nurses' work environment, teamness, and staffing levels on nurse-reported adverse patient events in Oman.

Fostering a healthy work environment becomes a necessity in health care institutions that value quality care and patient safety. However, limited studies investigated the impact of work environment characteristics including staffing and teamness among healthcare teams on adverse patient events in Oman. To examine the (1) impact of work environment, interprofessional teamness, staffing levels on adverse patient events and (2) predicting factors of perceptions of work environment among nurses in the Sultanate of Oman. A cross-sectional descriptive design was utilized to collect data from 2113 nurses. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire that included a set of instruments. The results showed a strong positive relationship between work environment and teamness (r = 0.59, p < 0.001). Nurses working in a favorable environment that has positive teamwork reported a reduction in adverse events including patient and family complaints, patient and family verbal abuse, patient falls, nosocomial infections, and medication errors (p < 0.001). There was a nonsignificant correlation between staffing and adverse patient events. Fostering a healthy and supportive work environment continue to be crucial for ensuring patient safety. Nurse administrators should strive to improve work environment through creating a culture that values interprofessional teamwork and collaborative relationships.

Filling the Gaps in the Pharmacy Workforce in Post-Conflict Areas: Experience from Four Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: While the pharmacy workforce is the third largest professional healthcare group worldwide, the pharmacy workforce landscape remains unclear in post-conflict areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Method: Key informants were selected for semi-structured interviews due to their role in providing pharmacy services in the selected country: the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, and South Sudan. Transcripts from the interviews were anonymized, coded, and analyzed. Results: Nine participants were recruited (CAR: 2; DRC: 2; Ethiopia: 2; South Sudan: 3), and all except two were pharmacists. Conflict-specific challenges in pharmacy service delivery were identified as the following: unpredictable health needs and/or mismatched pharmaceutical supply, transport difficulties due to insecure roads, and shortage of pharmacy workforce due to brain drain or interrupted schooling. Barriers to health workforce retention and growth were identified to be brain drain as a result of suboptimal living and working conditions or remuneration, the perception of an unsafe work environment, and a career pathway or commitment duration that does not fit the diaspora or expatriate staff. Conclusion: To tackle the barriers of pharmacy health workforce retention and growth, policy solutions will be required and efforts that can bring about long-term improvement should be prioritized. This is essential to achieve universal health coverage and the targets of the sustainable development goals for conflict affected areas, as well as to “leave no one behind”.

The Causes of Work Incident According to Work Shift System on Operator of a Woven Bag Company, Sidoarjo

Introduction: In the recent years, woven bag companies have taken a step forward from traditional labor intensive work practices to technological assistance which is operated by workers. Nevertheless, the increased production capability and capacity with assistance of the machineries has been known to cause significant Occupational Safety and Health concerns as having been reported in various previous studies. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the relationship between perception of exposure to hazards and OSH incidents taking into consideration the work shift of the operators. Methods: This research was an analytical observational study with cross-sectional design. There was a total of 67 operators being the population of this study, 53 of whom were recruited as respondents using simple random sampling. The instruments that were used in this research were questionnaires about individual characterization, perception of work environment and work incidents. Variable testing was performed using contingency coefficient. Results: There was a relationship between the complaint towards the noise and the work incident in the morning and afternoon shift. Based on the measurement of the noise, the value was high in the morning of 100dBA, while in the afternoon the value was 91dBA and at night the value was 92 dBA. For the variable of dry temperature, there was a relationship between the complaint towards the dry temperature and the work incident, which showed that in the morning, the dry temperature was 33.1oC. Conclusion: High noise and dry temperature exposure value had a relationship with the work incident on the operators of a Woven Bag Company.Keywords: dry temperature, noise, shift worker, work incident

Hopes, fears, and rumors: Medical students and the general surgery clerkship

BackgroundSurgical educators have worked to manage the hopes and fears as well as the recurring rumors that plague the surgical clerkship. It is not known if this has effected change over time. MethodsWe gathered information on hopes, fears, and rumors during our clerkship orientations from 2017 to 2019 using anonymous polling software with real-time feedback. We analyzed 468 responses using qualitative content analysis. ResultsStudents hoped for practical skills acquisition, self-improvement, and understanding the surgical profession. They feared lack of time and knowledge, burnout, mistreatment, and subjective evaluation. Rumors included negative perceptions of surgical culture work environment, and fear of mistreatment despite clerkship changes intended to allay these fears. ConclusionStudents starting surgery clerkships hope to gain surgical and clinical skills but concerns about surgical culture and mistreatment appear to remain unchanged despite structural improvements in the clerkship experience. Surgeons should look beyond the clerkship itself to change these perceptions.

Another day, another chance: Daily workplace experiences and their impact on creativity

AbstractCreative climate research shows that an employee's perception of their work environment impacts their creative performance. However, variable‐centered approaches (e.g., moderated regression) are often unable to study all climate factors interacting simultaneously, with researchers only able to focus on a few factors at a time. Further, longitudinal climate research shows these perceptions fluctuate over time. To overcome some limitations of variable‐centered approaches, we use a person‐centered approach with a longitudinal focus to (a) identify distinct daily workplace experience profiles, (b) explore the stability of people's workplace experiences over time, and (c) investigate whether daily workplace experiences relate to creativity. We used an archival dataset of 11,245 daily surveys from 221 people asking about their work environment to identify five daily workplace experience profiles. We find people have varying experiences over the course of a project, but that these experiences also appear to be stable within a one‐week period. Finally, we also found that these experiences influence creative self‐perceptions and creative performance behaviors. As such, this study helps integrate various creativity and organizational theories to develop a rich and more holistic understanding of how daily work environment perceptions impact creative work.

Personal initiative and work environment as predictors of job satisfaction among nurses: cross-sectional study

BackgroundJob satisfaction contributes to better work outcomes and productivity, and reduces nurses’ absenteeism and turnover. The contribution of personal initiative to the interaction between these variables needs additional examination. This study aimed to examine the relationships between personal initiative, work environment, and job satisfaction among nurses.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study. The convenience sample consisted of 1040 nurses working in hospitals across the country. Data were collected by a structured self-administered questionnaire measuring: (a) personal initiative, (b) nursing work environment, (c) job satisfaction.ResultsPersonal initiative and work environment scores, together with demographic and occupational characteristics that univariate analysis showed to be significantly associated with job satisfaction, were included in a logistic regression model to predict job satisfaction. The results of multivariable analysis indicated that female gender, working in emergency room (ER) and pediatric wards, a higher personal initiative, and positive perception of work environment, were significantly associated with higher job satisfaction. Work in the ER and pediatric area of practice was significantly associated with five-fold (OR = 4.97; 95% CI 1.52–16.25) and three-fold higher odds (OR = 2.85; 95% CI 1.17–6.91) for high and very high job satisfaction in comparison with work in oncology. The model explained 32% of the variance in job satisfaction.ConclusionsThe findings demonstrate that high personal initiative together with positive perceptions of the nursing work environment, contributed significantly to the explanation of job satisfaction. There is a need to invest more efforts in strengthening the organizational climate stimulating initiative behavior and encouraging nurses to be active, share knowledge, and promote innovation.

Cross-cultural adaptation and reliability evaluation of the Lithuanian version of the keys questionnaire

The aim of this study is the KEYS questionnaire cross-cultural adaptation into the Lithuanian language. This study was designed to translate and perform cultural adaptation as well as test the reliability of the Lithuanian version of the KEYS questionnaire. Guidelines for the questionnaire translation and adaptation procedure according to international recommendations based on scientific literature were followed in order to establish the cultural equivalence to the original English version of the KEYS questionnaire. In the cross-cultural adaptation stage, due to the Lithuanian cultural context, several discrepancies between the semantic and conceptual equivalence of the items were modified. In total, 155 respondents participated in the pilot study of the Lithuanian KEYS version. As to reliability of the Lithuanian KEYS version, psychometric properties were tested, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to assess the internal consistency. Mostly all scales and items demonstrated good internal consistency. The Lithuanian KEYS version was a well-accepted, reliable tool for evaluating and assessing individual work environment perceptions that influence the creativity of organizations among the Lithuanian speaking population. We conclude that the Lithuanian version of the KEYS questionnaire was successfully translated and adapted for application to Lithuanian-speaking respondents and it is ready for the validation study. Such a research is the first in the Baltic region.

Pengaruh Persepsi Mahasiswa Tentang Kompensasi Finansial dan Lingkungan Kerja terhadap Minat Memilih Profesi Guru pada Mahasiswa Pendidikan Ekonomi

This study aims to find out 1) Influence of Student Perception on Financial Compensation and Work Environment On Interest in Choosing Teacher Profession In Economic Education Students 2) Influence of Student Perception On Financial Compensation On Interest in Choosing Teacher Profession In Economic Education Students and 3) Influence of Student Perception About Work Environment On Interest in Choosing Teacher Profession In Economic Education Students. The population in this study was students of Economic Education Faculty of Economics, Universitas Negeri Padang and the number of selected samples as many as 119 students. This type of research is descriptive associative research. The sampling technique used in this study is probability sampling by using proportional stratified random sampling. Data analysis using descriptive analysis, analysis requirement test, multiple regression, F test, determinant coefesien and t test. The results showed that 1) Students' Perception of Financial Compensation and Work Environment had a significant effect on the Interest in Choosing a Teacher Profession. 2) Student Perception of Financial Compensation has a significant effect on the Interest in Choosing a Teacher Profession. 3) Student Perception of The Work Environment has a significant effect on the Interest in Choosing a Teacher Profession.

Perceptions of Authentic Nurse Leadership and Work Environment and the Pandemic Impact for Nurse Leaders and Clinical Nurses.

The aim of this study was to determine the pandemic impact on the relationship between nurses' perception of the authentic nurse leadership (ANL) of their manager and their perception of the work environment. Both ANL and healthy work environment (HWE) contribute to staff and patient outcomes. Our 1st study of these 2 variables revealed a positive relationship. Will this be upheld in a pandemic year? More than 5000 nurses from a national sample participated in a cross-sectional, correlational, descriptive study using the Authentic Nurse Leadership Questionnaire, the Critical Elements of a Healthy Work Environment Scale, and a pandemic impact on practice question. Overall, nurses perceived ANL and HWE were present despite a high level of pandemic impact; however, when clinical nurses were separated from managers/directors, HWE was not present for frontline nurses. The moderate correlation of ANL and HWE was replicated in this larger study. This is the 2nd study of the positive relationship between ANL and HWE using these models, supporting ANL as an essential standard of a HWE. ANL was present for clinical nurses in a pandemic year signaling that nurse leaders rose to meet frontline leadership needs. HWE was present overall, but not for clinical nurses. Leadership is essential to work environments and outcomes especially in times of crisis and significant change.

The impact of social comparisons of job demands and job control on well-being.

We extended the job demand-control model by including a social comparison perspective and hypothesised that an employee's work-related well-being is to some degree relative to the perceived work environment of coworkers rather than absolute (in terms of isolated effects of individual work characteristics). Hence, we account for the social context when examining the effects of individual job characteristics. Using a lagged study design with two measurement times eight weeks apart, we examined the effects of the (in)congruence between one´s own job demands and job control with the perceived job demands and job control of coworkers on job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficiency. Findings from polynomial regression analyses and response surface methodology revealed that perceiving coworkers as having either higher or lower demands than oneself is associated with lower job satisfaction and higher levels of emotional exhaustion. This provides partial support for our hypotheses. We found first-time evidence that social comparison processes regarding job demands can influence employees´ well-being.

Nursing assistant's perceptions of the good work environment in municipal elderly care in Sweden -a focus group study.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate aspects related to difficulty to retain nursing assistants at nursing homes in Sweden related to perceived work environment characteristics. To reveal aspects related to difficulty to retain nursing assistants, the paper uses the BIKVA model, sense of coherence and New Public Management (NPM). In total, three focus groups with nursing assistants at three nursing homes are interviewed with corresponding individual interviews with their senior managers and users. The purpose is to analyze the situation from the affected group of nursing assistants. The focus of this study is how nursing assistants discuss related to recruit and retain nursing assistants at nursing homes and elderly care and the response from senior management related to those aspects. The main conclusions are that nursing assistants consider their job as meaningful, but limited latitude and direct involvement in managing their daily tasks in a continuous communication with management affect negatively. Furthermore and combined with wage levels, aspects related to scheduling, working hours, shift work, split shifts and understaffing generate a burdensome and stressful environment affecting the possibility to retain staff in a negative direction. The research uses a new approach utilizing the BIKVA model, sense of coherence and NPM. The study shows that central in retaining nursing assistants at nursing homes relates to aspects such as wages, staffing, shift work and split shifts and continuous communication between nursing assistants and management.

Association of Nursing Practice Environment on reported adverse events in private management hospitals: A cross-sectional study.

To examine the relationships between nurses' perceptions of their practice environment, other working conditions and reported adverse events in two private management hospitals. Patient safety is influenced by knowledge, available resources and the context in which nursing care is provided. In this sense, it has been found that certain work environments (e.g., workload, nurse turnover level, patient-to-nurse ratio, nurse staffing, nurse manager ability) influence patient outcomes. The association between nursing practice environment and reported adverse events has not been explored in private management hospitals. A cross-sectional study. The STROBE was selected as the checklist in this study. A total of 219 nurses were included in the study. This study was conducted from June 2018-June 2019 in Spain. Data were collected through questionnaires focusing on work conditions, reported adverse events (falls, medication errors, catheter-related sepsis and pressure ulcer) and Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors influencing the occurrence of errors. Nurses reported poor perception of the professional environment, and 62.1% reported having made at least one error in the previous year. Manager support and leadership and nurse-physician relations were the most favourable aspects of work environment. Medical-surgical units, rotating in the same shift and favourable work environment, were associated with more reporting of adverse events. The factors of nursing practice (hospital area workload, staff rotating and perception of work environment) associated with reporting adverse events can be worked upon from the organisation and provided an opportunity for safety culture improvement and safer healthcare services. Improving the nurse work environment may reduce adverse patient events in private management hospitals.

Newly graduated nurses' perceptions of work environment: A cross-sectional study in China.

To assess the attitudes of newly graduated nurses in China toward their work environment and identify the factors affecting their perception. Newly graduated nurses are the primary supply to cover the nursing shortage, but their stressful transition into clinical work has contributed to high turnover for decades. Although serving as a source of stress, the work environment can also be a source of support for new nurses. A total of 2361 new nurses at 31 tertiary hospitals in 20 provinces were surveyed from June to November 2018, using the Chinese version of the Practice Environment Scale-Nursing Work Index. Basic information and their perception about work environment were collected. New nurses rated their work environment with an overall score of 84.67 (12.85). Multiple linear regression identified that education level, monthly income, hospital type and location, participation (or not) in standardized training programmes and having (or not) a mentor/preceptor were factors significantly associated with their perception of the work environment. The perception of newly graduated nurses in China was mainly positive overall. Nursing managers may take full advantage of factors affecting the perception of work environment to support newly graduated nurses better, to help their retention and transition.

Individual perceptions of group work environment, motivation, and achievement

Abstract The learning environment is an important factor in both learner motivation and learning outcomes. As second language (L2) classrooms frequently employ group work, clarifying the environmental effects in group work settings is important to improve pedagogical application in this context. This study examined the cross-sectional structural relations among the factors of work environment, motivation, and learning outcomes for L2 learners at various English proficiency levels. Japanese university students (N = 200) were engaged in group work activities for one semester. Self-reported data on motivation, the group work environment, course grades, and standardized English proficiency test scores were analyzed using path and moderation models. Results revealed that the group work environment significantly affected motivation. Learners who perceived stronger group cohesion and greater group engagement were likely to find learning more enjoyable and were less prone to amotivation. However, those perceiving weaker group cohesion and lesser group engagement tended to display the opposite motivational pattern. Further, this environmental effect on motivation was evident regardless of English proficiency level. Results further showed that motivation was significantly associated with achievement, thereby indicating that the group work environment indirectly influenced learning outcomes via motivation.