A correlation study of emergency department nurses’ fatigue, perceived stress, social support and self-efficacy in grade III A hospitals of Xi’an

Abstract

Fatigue is a universal and challenging problem in a nurse's career, particularly for those working in the emergency department. Through analyzing the current status of emergency department nurses’ fatigue, the purpose of this study is to provide guidance for occupational health promotion strategies making and fatigue relief. Cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses working in emergency department in 6 grade III A hospitals in Xi’an, China. Convenience sample of 346 nurses agreed to participate in this study. Data collection was based on the questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, hypothesis tests and correlation analysis were used to describe the samples’ characteristics and identify associations amongst participants’ characteristics. The fatigue score of those emergency nurses from grade III A hospitals in Xian was 8.71 ± 3.01, a high fatigue level. Moreover, there were significant differences in fatigue scores of different age groups, sleep qualities, work stress levels and physical states ( P < .01). Further, the dimension of physical fatigue in various age groups, job title, marital status, sleep qualities, work stress levels and physical states was significantly different ( P < .05) and the dimension of mental fatigue with different sleep qualities, work stress levels and physical states was significantly different ( P < .01). The results of correlation analysis showed that fatigue was positively correlated with perceived stress while negatively correlated with social support and self-efficacy ( P < .01). The multiple stepwise linear regression analysis indicated that the independent variables in the fatigue regression equation were perceived stress, physical condition and work stress in turn ( P < .01), and the independent variables in the the dimensions of physical fatigue regression equation were perceived stress, physical condition,work stress and job title in turn ( P < .05); the independent variables in the the dimensions of mental fatigue regression equation were perceived stress,subjective support and physical condition in turn ( P < .05). The current status of high fatigue level of emergency nurses should be taken seriously. It is imperative to take effective measures to help emergency nurses reduce stress, improve social support, promote the self-efficacy, and thus relieve fatigue.

Comparison of COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Stress among Frontline Medical Personnel in Daegu City, Korea

“…In many of the domains of stress studied (almost all areas of work changes and burden, lack of resources, and personal influence), the level of stress was higher among the nurses, which parallels previous studies [17,18]. Studies have shown that even when not in pandemic situations, nurses working in the ED encounter high levels of fatigue and stress, and this has a great effect on self-efficacy [6]. Many studies in the COVID-19 pandemic era, as well as the SARS epidemic era, have also indicated that nurses experience high levels of stress including those that are work-related, health concerns, and social isolation, and thus require intervention [19][20][21].…”

Mental Workload and Job Satisfaction in Healthcare Workers: The Moderating Role of Job Control

“…In addition, the clients, who referred to nurses, have predominantly acute and special situations and sometimes are overcrowded in the emergency department at the times of chain accidents and similar cases, which lead to more stress in nurses (40,43). According to a study by Oliveira et al nurses experienced a higher workload than other occupational groups, which was more related to poor working conditions and to a lack of job satisfaction (44).…”

Fatiga laboral en personas que realizaron trabajo en casa en tiempos de confinamiento por COVID-19

“…Aunque dicha modalidad se implementó para evitar las pérdidas masivas de empleo (6,7,8,9) , a su vez produjo consecuencias negativas como la sobrecarga, el estrés y la confusión emocional (18,19) . Así mismo, impactó en las dinámicas familiares, los hábitos de sueño y las rutinas de alimentación de las personas (16,17) , lo que generó afectaciones a nivel físico (dolores o lesiones músculo -esqueléticas) (16,17) y psicológico (estrés, ansiedad, irritabilidad) aspectos que derivaron fatiga laboral (22,23,24) . Aunque las investigaciones acerca de esta temática se encuentran en auge por la novedad e importancia que tiene en el ámbito laboral, en su mayoría se ha optado por investigaciones monográficas o de revisión bibliográfica, dejando un poco de lado el indagar el impacto que ha tenido en el diario vivir de los colaboradores.…”

“…De acuerdo con lo encontrado en el estudio, los participantes presentaron fatiga laboral, la cual se caracterizó por la manifestación de síntomas asociados a la carga física, tales como cansancio, malestar en alguna parte del cuerpo, pesadez o fatiga visual y entumecimiento de las articulaciones (34) . Así mismo, indicaron que, respecto a la carga mental y los efectos psicofisiológicos, experimentaron sintomatología relacionada con capacidad mental disminuida, somnolencia, irritabilidad, y apatía, así como, estado de ánimo decaído, agotamiento (cansancio, estrés, aburrimiento), palpitaciones y dificultad para respirar (22,23,25,26) . Lo anterior concuerda con diferentes autores que afirman que la fatiga laboral se encuentra relacionada con las variables propias de la carga mental (20) y física (37) , dado que, cuando el trabajador realiza un sobreesfuerzo cognitivo al tener que procesar una gran cantidad de información (20) y/o se encuentra expuesto a algún tipo de tensión (estática, repetitiva o excesiva) por un largo periodo de tiempo (37) , surgen afectaciones como las anteriormente mencionadas que impactan de manera negativa en el bienestar del colaborador (35) .…”

“…Este panorama puede vincularse a daños o consecuencias en la salud física y mental de los trabajadores (21) , generando y exacerbando respuestas negativas frente al estrés (22) , ansiedad, miedo, agobio, irritabilidad, inseguridad, dificultad para concentrarse, incertidumbre y alteraciones de tipo psicofisiológicos (23,24,25,26) . Igualmente, se ha demostrado que el uso continuo de las TIC's puede llegar a producir estrés tecnológico (27,17) .…”