Risk of illness and human cost at work in a psychiatric hospital

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the risk of illness and to the human cost at work from the point of view of the nursing team of a psychiatric hospital. Method: A cross-sectional study performed in a psychiatric hospital with 74 nursing workers. The Human Cost of Labor Scale was applied. Results: In the evaluation of the human cost at work, the cognitive cost factor was evaluated as a critical risk for the sickness of the nursing worker, while the factors affective cost and physical cost demonstrated a satisfactory evaluation. The items considered critical for illness referred to: having control of emotions, dealing with the aggressiveness of others, use of vision and memory, and repeated and repeated use of the legs and hands. Conclusion: The evaluated items reveal conditions critical to the health of the nursing worker in mental health, revealing risk of illness.

Transtornos mentais comuns entre trabalhadores de enfermagem de um hospital psiquiátrico

“…That is, it is a field where professional frustration is common because of the results, sometimes out of reality and without a precise prognosis, in a context in which cognitive demands are high, revealing risk of workers' illnesses. (27,37) However, even in the face of the discussions presented in this study, it cannot be said that there are relations between CMD and the fact that the sample comes from a psychiatric hospital, because, among the work variables, only the professional category presented statistical significance.…”

“…(26) A study with nursing workers at a psychiatric hospital has shown, for example, that controlling emotions, making continuous and repetitive use of sight, memory, hands, and feet, and dealing with the aggressiveness of others are critical conditions for becoming ill, and require constant attention. (27) Another alarming situation pointed out in nursing was the situation of working in two different places, due to the low salaries, ease to conciliate the various employment bonds, and the permissiveness of labor laws. (28) These conditions contribute to the high physical and mental load of nursing work, demonstrating the need for rest breaks and leisure time.…”

Work and illness risks in Territorial Psychosocial Care: implications for mental health care management

“…When analyzing the ECHT, we note that it had a critical risk classification for the affective, cognitive, and physical cost factors (table 2), indicating an extreme situation with negative cost and labor distress. Such results signal a warning when compared with data from the application of ECHT to nursing workers in a reference psychiatric hospital in Teresina, Piauí 17 .…”

Factors related to the risk of illness of nursing staff at work in a psychiatric institution

“…Inadequate working conditions and care for people with mental disorders with considerable cognitive demand represent critical risks for the illness of nursing workers (6)(7) . Night work, a common situation among these workers, is a strong factor of occupational exposure, generating important consequences for the work activity and health conditions of the worker (8)(9) .…”

“…In addition, the results of care -sometimes out of reality -, the state of continuous surveillance and professional dissatisfaction related to environmental structure, comfort, safety and wages should potentiate the possibilities of illness (7,10) .…”