psycho behavioral determinants affecting quality of life of staff nurses posted in critical vs non critical units

Abstract

Background: Nurses working in critical care units engage in several activities or several roles at the same time, all of which may be essential for the patient but within limited shift duration. Staff Nurses are exposed to a number of stressors, ranging from work overload, multiple reporting, time pressures, and lack of role clarity in dealing with serious patients and their relatives. Such stressors can lead to psychological and physical distress, absenteeism, high turnover, and health issues and gradually deteriorate their quality of life. newlineObjective: To study the impact of different work setting on psycho-behavioral determinants and quality of life of staff nurses and the effectiveness of a change in posting from critical to non-critical units and vice versa to reduce psycho-behavioral determinants and improve quality of life of staff nurses. newlineDesign and setting: an experimental research design was used for the present. The study was conducted in Himalayan Hospital, which is a multi-specialty, tertiary care level, 750 bedded Hospital. newlineMethods: The study was performed during 2013-1014 in in Himalayan Hospital, which is a multi-specialty, tertiary care level, 750 bedded Hospital. A total 100 staff nurses, 50 from each critical and non-critical units were selected with simple random technique. Staff nurses were shifted from critical to non-critical unit and vice a versa for the duration of 2 months. After completion of 2 months they were re-shifted to their original units. Data were collected with self-reported questionnaires included demographic proforma to collect personal and professional characteristic of staff nurses, MBI-HSS to assess burnout level, and WHOQOL-BREF to assess quality of life. A computerised stress profile test (CSPT) was conducted to record heart rate, GSR value and skin temperature of study participants posted. Burnout and quality of life of staff nurses were assessed at baseline, every 15th day during change in posting and after re-shifting at 15th and 30th day.