Professional Quality of Life of Healthcare Workers in Hospital Emergency Departments

Abstract

In previous publications, we have reported that professionals in emergency departments undergo high levels of stress according to the amounts of salivary biomarkers (α-amylase and cortisol). The stress seems to be counteracted by increased levels of dehydroepiandrosterone. This hypothesis is confirmed in the answers to different tests indicating no working stress, no anxiety, optimal self-efficacy, and good sleeping quality. Altogether, these previous results suggest an optimal adaptation of these workers to the demanding situations that occur in emergency departments. To complete this research, we decided to evaluate the quality of life of health professionals working in the emergency departments of two Spanish hospitals. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out during the pre-pandemic months of July and August 2019. We determined the professional quality of life through the QPL-35 questionnaire in 97 participants, including nurses (n = 59) and medical doctors (n = 38). Answers to the test indicate that the studied participants working in emergency departments have a good perception of professional quality of life. This is reflected in the three dimensions of the questionnaire: managerial support, workloads, and intrinsic motivation. Based on the results of all answered tests, emergency healthcare staff seem to have adequate professional management, with levels of stress, sleep, and quality of life in line with a controlled lifestyle. Altogether, this would allow a correct adaptation to the demanding situations experienced in emergency departments. The relevance to clinical practice is that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted this controlled professional management.

Relationship between Strength and Professional Quality of Life of Nurses Working Hospital Emergency Departments

“…The CVP-35 questionnaire was passed to participants by our research team in a previous report after 2 months working period [21]. It has been observed that nurses manifested a lower "Managerial Support" (dimension 1 in CVP-35) than Medicine Doctors.…”

“…This problem affects the professional and working organization. Therefore, the satisfaction and QPL of these professionals have a direct impact on the quality of care to patients [21].…”

“…Increased muscle tension that results from sustained muscle contraction can result from physical stress (elevated physical demands, repetitive tasks, inadequate body position, etc.) as well as from psychosocial stress [18][19][20][21][22]. In a previous report, we studied the hormonal response (salivary cortisol and amylase) in health professionals working in Emergency Departments (ED).…”

Valoración biopsicológica de profesionales sanitarios de los servicios de urgencias hospitalarias de Soria y Valladolid

“…El patrón de secreción fue similar en ambos sexos, pero en este caso se objetivó un aumento a lo largo del día, alcanzando un pico máximo a las 15:00h y disminuyendo posteriormente en la última muestra a las 24h. en los participantes estudiados (187). Se presentan en forma de diagramas de caja para los diferentes grupos que muestran medianas y rangos intercuartílicos.…”

“…Figura 28. Dispersión de la Calidad de vida profesional (cuestionario CVP-35) en los participantes estudiados(187). Se presentan en forma de diagramas de caja para los diferentes grupos que muestran medianas y rangos intercuartílicos.…”