How Do Hospital Medical and Nursing Managers Perceive Work-Related Strain on Their Employees?

Britta Worringer, Melanie Genrich, Andreas Müller, Florian Junne, Contributors of the SEEGEN Consortium and Peter Angerer
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Britta Worringer: Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
Melanie Genrich: Institute of Psychology, Work & Organizational Psychology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany
Andreas Müller: Institute of Psychology, Work & Organizational Psychology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany
Florian Junne: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical University Hospital Tübingen, 72016 Tübingen, Germany
Contributors of the SEEGEN Consortium: Membership of the SEEGEN Consortium is provided in the Acknowledgements.
Peter Angerer: Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, Düsseldorf University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: Health-oriented supportive leadership behavior is a key factor in reducing work stress and promoting health. Employees in the health sector are subject to a heavy workload, and it has been shown that 40% of them show permanent health problems. A supportive leadership behavior requires the manager’s awareness of the employees’ well-being. However, little is yet known about how medical and nursing managers perceive the well-being of their staff. To explore this issue, we conducted a total of 37 semi-standardized interviews with 37 chief physicians (CPs), senior physicians (SPs), and senior nurses (SNs) in one German hospital. The interviews were content-analyzed based on the definitions of strain of the ‘Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’. Results show that hospital managers are aware of fatigue and further consequences such as deterioration of the team atmosphere, work ethics, treatment quality, and an increased feeling of injustice among employees. Most managers reported sick leaves as a result of psychosomatic complaints due to the permanent overstrain situation at work in the hospital. Results of this qualitative study are discussed in the light of health-oriented management relating to relevant stress models and to findings concerning staff shortages.

Keywords: psychosocial stress; occupational health; healthcare; leadership; employee mental well-being; qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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