Hospital Medical and Nursing Managers’ Perspective on the Mental Stressors of Employees

Britta Worringer, Melanie Genrich, Andreas Müller, Harald Gündel, 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
Harald Gündel: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Medical Center, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Contributors of the SEEGEN Consortium: Membership of the SEEGEN Consortium is provided in the Acknowledgments.
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 14, 1-35

Abstract: Working conditions in hospitals are characterized by occupational stressors, which lead to potentially harmful psychosocial stress reactions for medical and nursing staff. Representative surveys showed that almost every second hospital physician or nurse is affected by burnout and that there is a strong association between leadership behavior and employee health. Workplace health promotion programs can only be successful and sustainable if managers support them. However, it is still unclear whether hospital managers are aware of the working conditions and perceive them as an influence on the health of their employees. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study was to explore the hospital medical and nursing managers’ perspective on the mental stress of their employees. Semi-standardized interviews with 37 chief physicians (CP), senior physicians (SP) and senior nurses (SN) in total were carried out in one German hospital. The interviews were content-analyzed based on the guideline for the mental risk assessment of the ‘Gemeinsame Deutsche Arbeitsschutzstrategie’ (GDA). Most reported work characteristics related to work organization, work task, and social factors. Staff shortage could be identified as an underlying stressor for several other burdens. Social support by managers and among colleagues was mentioned as main resource. The findings indicate that managers strive to reduce the burden on their staff, especially through their personal support. Nevertheless, it seemed that managers need additional resources to counteract stressors.

Keywords: psychosocial stress; occupational health; healthcare; leadership; employee mental well-being; qualitative research; psychosocial safety climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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