How Do Hospital Medical and Nursing Managers Perceive Work-Related Strain on Their Employees?

Overview

Journal Int J Environ Res Public Health

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Environmental Health
Public Health

Date 2020 Jul 2

PMID 32605266

Citations 3

Authors

Britta Worringer

Melanie Genrich

Andreas Muller

Florian Junne

Contributors Of The Seegen Consortium

Peter Angerer

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Health-oriented supportive leadership behavior is a key factor in reducing work stress and promoting health. Employees in the health sector are subject to a heavy workload, and it has been shown that 40% of them show permanent health problems. A supportive leadership behavior requires the manager's awareness of the employees' well-being. However, little is yet known about how medical and nursing managers perceive the well-being of their staff. To explore this issue, we conducted a total of 37 semi-standardized interviews with 37 chief physicians (CPs), senior physicians (SPs), and senior nurses (SNs) in one German hospital. The interviews were content-analyzed based on the definitions of strain of the 'Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health'. Results show that hospital managers are aware of fatigue and further consequences such as deterioration of the team atmosphere, work ethics, treatment quality, and an increased feeling of injustice among employees. Most managers reported sick leaves as a result of psychosomatic complaints due to the permanent overstrain situation at work in the hospital. Results of this qualitative study are discussed in the light of health-oriented management relating to relevant stress models and to findings concerning staff shortages.

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