Subtypes of nurses' mental workload and interaction patterns with fatigue and work engagement during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak: A latent class analysis

Abstract

Background Nurses play critical roles when providing health care in high-risk situations, such as during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, no previous study had systematically assessed nurses’ mental workloads and its interaction patterns with fatigue, work engagement and COVID-19 exposure risk. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted via online questionnaire. The NASA Task Load Index, Fatigue Scale-14, and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale were used to assess nurses’ mental workload, fatigue and work engagement, respectively. A total of 1337 valid questionnaires were received and analyzed. Nurses were categorized into different subgroups of mental workload via latent class analysis (LCA). Cross-sectional comparisons, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and multivariate (or logistic) regression were subsequently performed to examine how demographic variables, fatigue and work engagement differ among nurses belonging to different subgroups. Results Three latent classes were identified based on the responses to mental workload assessment: Class1 – low workload perception & high self-evaluation group (n = 41, 3.1%); Class 2 – medium workload perception & medium self-evaluation group (n = 455, 34.4%); and Class 3 – high workload perception & low self-evaluation group (n = 841, 62.5%). Nurses belonging into class 3 were most likely to be older and have longer professional years, and displayed higher scores of fatigue and work engagement compared with the other latent classes (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that high cognitive workload increased subjective fatigue, and mental workload may be positively associated with work engagement. Group comparison results indicated that COVID-19 exposure contributed to significantly higher mental workload levels. Conclusions The complex scenario for the care of patients with infectious diseases, especially during an epidemic, raises the need for improved consideration of nurses’ perceived workload, as well as their physical fatigue, work engagement and personal safety when working in public health emergencies.

Influence of the CoViD-19 Pandemic on Mental Workload and Burnout of Fashion Retailing Workers in Spain

“…These studies refer to the fact that women would be more affected in this dimension. Thus, our study results provide contrary conclusions: men working in fashion retailing had higher levels of mental workload's cognitive and performance dimensions [59][60][61][62]. Therefore, we propose further research on gender differences on mental workload in fashion retailing to understand the differences between our study in fashion retailing workers and the existing literature on healthcare personnel.…”

Wie sind Schlüsselressourcen und -anforderungen mit dem Arbeitsengagement Pflegender während der COVID-19-Pandemie assoziiert? Eine Querschnittstudie

“…Beachtenswert ist zudem, dass sich die wahrgenommene Arbeitsbelastung während der zweiten Welle der COVID-19-Pandemie nicht nachteilig auf das Arbeitsengagement auswirkt, sondern dieses sogar erhöht, wenn auch mit Blick auf den standardisierten Regressionskoeffizienten in einem nur geringen Ausmaß. Dieser Befund steht im Kontrast zu Untersuchungen, die unter Normalbedingungen hohe Arbeitsbelastungen als hinderlich für das Arbeitsengagement Pflegender ausweisen [56] , bestätigt jedoch den von Wu et al [22] für die erste Phase der Pandemie gefundenen positiven Zusammenhang von Arbeitsbelastung und Arbeitsengagement auch für die zweite Welle. Offenbar erleben die Pflegenden die hohe Arbeitsbelastung zumindest unter den akuten Pandemiebedingungen weiterhin überwiegend als positiv herausfordernd, d.h. als „challenge demand“ und nicht als „hindrance demand“ [11] .…”

“…Positive Effekte sozialer Unterstützung auf das Arbeitsengagement bestätigten sich dagegen nicht [2] . Entgegen ihren Erwartungen fanden Wu et al [22] zudem, dass Pflegende mit hoher Arbeitsbelastung ein höheres Engagement zeigten. Für Deutschland findet sich bislang nur eine quantitative Studie [5] .…”

Gestione del percorso per pazienti critici e raccomandazioni per il management assistenziale in caso di infezione da Sars-Cov 2: indagine sulle conoscenze e sulle competenze degli infermieri di Area Critica umbria

“…Un primo dato interessante che emerge è che il 64% dei rispondenti ha dichiarato la presenza nei propri servizi di Percorsi dedicati a pazienti critici, un dato notevolmente superiore a quello riportato da Piccini e colleghi, dove dei 536 PDTA regionali esistenti solo il 13,4% era dedicato ai percorsi dei pazienti critici [24] .…”

“…I risultati osservati ci hanno permesso nello specifico di effettuare una lettura approfondita sulla presenza dei PTDA in una Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale dell'Umbria e di confrontarli con la media sia regionale che nazionale: l'Umbria, infatti, è insieme al Piemonte, la regione che utilizza il numero maggiore di PDTA applicati alle malattie croniche (34 totali) [24] .…”