rome and Burnout--Professional

Hospital staff are at the frontline in the COVID-19 outbreak. The stressors they experience may induce sleep problems in a population already at risk. Sleep deprivation, long shifts and insomnia in hospital staff have been associated with individual, organizational and public health hazards. These include increased risk of mental and somatic disorders, altered immune responses, medical errors, misunderstandings, drowsy driving and burnout. In March 2020, the World Health Organization called for providing access to mental health and counselling for health professionals involved in the COVID-19 outbreak. To answer this call, we propose practical advice for the management of sleep problems (sleep deprivation, insomnia and shift work) that can be included in supportive interventions. The advice is based on psychobiological principles of sleep regulation and on guidelines for the treatment of insomnia and was implemented within an initiative offering psychological support to the staff of three university hospitals in Rome.

Topics: Anxiety; Burnout, Professional; Caregivers; COVID-19; Depression; Disease Outbreaks; Female; Hospitals, University; Humans; Male; Mental Health; Nurses; Pandemics; Personnel, Hospital; Physicians; Risk Factors; Rome; Shift Work Schedule; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

The objective of this study was to evaluate psychiatric morbidity and emotional exhaustion among physicians and nurses of a general hospital in central Italy, examining the association with perceived job-related factors. Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to all 323 hospital physicians and 609 nurses of a nonprofit health organization in Rome, Italy. Standardized instruments were used to evaluate psychiatric morbidity (General Health Questionnaire), burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory), and perceived job-related factors. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between job-related factors, psychiatric morbidity, and burnout, controlling for demographic factors. Questionnaires were returned by 155 physicians and 216 nurses (overall response rate 40%). Estimated prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was 25% among physicians and 36.9% among nurses. Burnout on the emotional exhaustion scale affected 38.7% of physicians and 46.4% of nurses. Personnel with emotional exhaustion was at higher risk of psychiatric morbidity (p < .001). The likelihood of psychiatric morbidity among physicians was increased by perceived insufficient recognition of personal commitments by the unit's head (odds ratio [OR] = 4.21; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-15.1; p = .027), insufficient managerial ability of the unit's head (OR = 3.45; 95% CI 1.2-10.1; p = .023), and unsatisfactory communication (OR = 5.30; 95% CI 1.6-17.6; p = .006). Among nurses, psychiatric morbidity was associated with insufficient ability of the unit's head to solve conflicts, insufficient decisional power in relation to responsibilities, insufficient economic rewards and career possibilities, and working in surgery. Similar job-related factors were associated also with emotional exhaustion. Psychiatric morbidity and emotional exhaustion were relatively high, particularly among nurses. Specific job-related factors were associated with psychiatric morbidity and burnout. Improving these aspects is important for the well-being of hospital staff and the quality of patient care.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Burnout, Professional; Female; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Male; Middle Aged; Nurses; Nursing Staff, Hospital; Physicians; Prevalence; Rome; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult

A cross-sectional study was performed to assess the frequency of burnout in healthcare workers of a university teaching hospital in Rome (Italy), by means of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. In total 142 healthcare workers participated in the study. Average levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were observed in the study population. Working in emergency care services was found to be correlated with lower levels of personal accomplishment with respect to working in other services. Monitoring burnout in social service and healthcare workers is an effective tool for identifying critical situations in the workplace.

Topics: Adult; Burnout, Professional; Cross-Sectional Studies; Emergency Service, Hospital; Female; Health Personnel; Hospitals, Teaching; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Rome; Surveys and Questionnaires

We studied occupational stress and its psychosocial effects in a sample of Italian radiologists and radiotherapists:. Radiologists and radiotherapists attending two medical conferences were invited to complete a questionnaire comprising four sections investigating the risk of occupational stress (organisational discomfort, Karasek's Job Content Questionnaire, Siegrist's Effort-Reward Imbalance, Warr's Job Satisfaction) and four sections investigating the health effects of such stress (Goldberg's Anxiety and Depression Scales, General Health Questionnaire, Lifestyles Questionnaire).. Radiologists and radiotherapists generally expressed high levels of control, reward and satisfaction. However, 38.5% complained of severe organisational discomfort, 24% reported job strain, 28% reported effort/reward imbalance and 25% were dissatisfied. Female radiologists and radiotherapists showed higher levels of organisational discomfort than their male colleagues. Younger and less experienced radiologists and radiotherapists had higher strain scores than their older and more experienced colleagues. A significant correlation was observed between stress predictors and the effects of stress on health, including depression and anxiety, psychological distress and unhealthy lifestyles.. Radiologists and radiotherapists are exposed to major occupational stress factors, and a significant percentage of them suffer from workplace stress. A special effort is required to prevent this condition.

Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Anxiety; Burnout, Professional; Depression; Female; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Life Style; Male; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases; Physicians; Pilot Projects; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychological Tests; Radiology; Reward; Rome; Stress, Psychological; Surveys and Questionnaires; Workforce; Workload; Workplace

Burnout in psychiatric nurses is a phenomenon of great concern. We conducted an investigation of 120 nurses working in the psychiatric, general medicine/rehabilitation, and critical care/surgery wards to explore the correlations of level of burnout and defense mechanisms with hopelessness. The nurses were administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Gleser and Ihilevich's Defense Mechanisms Inventory, and Beck's Hopelessness Scale. The results indicate that burnout and some of the defense mechanisms predicted the level of hopelessness -- a predictor of suicide risk.

Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Attitude of Health Personnel; Burnout, Professional; Critical Care; Defense Mechanisms; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Morale; Nursing Methodology Research; Nursing Staff, Hospital; Perioperative Nursing; Psychiatric Nursing; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Rehabilitation Nursing; Risk Factors; Rome; Severity of Illness Index; Suicide; Surveys and Questionnaires

Psychological distress among healthcare professionals can have negative effects on the well-being of the professionals and also on the quality of care they provide to patients.. To evaluate burnout and job satisfaction of dermatologists and nurses working with dermatological patients compared with physicians and nurses of other specialties.. A self-completed anonymous questionnaire was distributed to the personnel of two hospitals in Rome, Italy: a dermatological hospital (IDI) and a general hospital (GH), belonging to the same non-profit organization. Standardized instruments were used to assess burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and job satisfaction. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the association between burnout and working in dermatology vs. other specialties, job satisfaction, years of employment and respondents' sex and age.. We distributed 929 questionnaires to clinical and non-clinical staff of IDI and 494 questionnaires to the GH staff (response rates: 53% at IDI and 50% at the GH). Among respondents there were 67 physicians and 59 nurses at IDI and 70 physicians and 148 nurses at the GH. Subsequent analyses refer only to this clinical subsample. Factor analysis showed that among physicians and nurses the two main factors explaining job satisfaction were respondents 'satisfaction with the management of their unit' and 'opportunities for personal growth'. Among nurses the likelihood of burnout decreased significantly with higher levels of job satisfaction [odds ratio (OR) = 0.78; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.7-0.9] and working in dermatology compared with other specialties (OR = 0.46; 95% CI 0.2-0.9). Among physicians a lower likelihood of burnout was associated with job satisfaction (OR = 0.66; 95% CI 0.5-0.8) and older age (OR = 0.28; 95% CI 0.1-0.8).. Among both physicians and nurses, job satisfaction was associated with a lower likelihood of burnout, independently of clinical specialty and other factors. Burnout was similar for dermatologists and other specialists. Nurses of the GH compared with those working in dermatology had a higher probability of burnout and were significantly less satisfied with the management of their units and with opportunities for personal growth.

Topics: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Burnout, Professional; Dermatology; Female; Hospitals, General; Hospitals, Special; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Nurses; Physicians; Rome; Surveys and Questionnaires

This study assessed whether job stress alters menstrual patterns among nurses working in 2 different settings: a tertiary care hospital in New York (99 nurses) and a university hospital in Rome (25 nurses).. Data on menstrual patterns were collected by a daily diary in which the nurses recorded their basal body temperature (BBT) and their menstrual bleeding status for a 3-month period. The BBT curves were used to classify cycles as biphasic or monophasic, and as adequate or inadequate with respect to the luteal phase. Job stress was evaluated by both objective (environmental and work characteristics) and subjective (perceived stress) criteria.. The American nurses, especially those assigned to high stress units, had an increased risk for long and monophasic cycles [relative risk (RR) 4.3, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.1-16.2 and RR 5.5, 95% CI 1.2-25.5, respectively]. Among those who perceived their stress at work to be high or reported strenuous work activity, the risk for longer cycles was also raised (RR 2.3, 95% CI 0.6-8.0 and RR 1.6, 95% CI 0.7-4.2, respectively). Luteal phase inadequacy followed the same pattern. Similar trends were observed in the Italian data. In addition, the rotating shiftwork pattern prevalent in the Italian group was possibly associated with higher rates of short cycles and inadequate luteal phases when compared with those of nurses working fixed shifts either day or night.. Menstrual function may be affected by stressful work conditions.

Topics: Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Basal Metabolism; Body Temperature; Burnout, Professional; Female; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Life Style; Menstrual Cycle; Menstruation Disturbances; New York; Nursing Staff, Hospital; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Rome; Work Schedule Tolerance; Workload