Dragana Milutinović

Professional Stress And Health Among Critical Care Nurses In Serbia

Professional Stress and Health among Critical Care Nurses in Serbia The aim of this study was to identify and analyse professional stressors, evaluate the level of stress in nurses in Intensive Care Units (ICU), and assess the correlation between the perception of stress and psychological and somatic symptoms or diseases shown by nurses. The research, designed as a cross-sectional study, was carried out in the Intensive Care Units (ICU), in health centres in Serbia. The sample population encompassed 1000 nurses. Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS) was used as the research instrument. ENSS revealed a valid metric characteristic within our sample population. Nurses from ICUs rated situations involving physical and psychological working environments as the most stressful ones, whereas situations related to social working environment were described as less stressful; however, the differences in the perception of stressfulness of these environments were minor. Socio-demographic determinants of the participants (age, marital status and education level) significantly affected the perception of stress at work. Significant differences in the perception of stressfulness of particular stress factors were observed among nurses with respect to psychological and somatic symptoms (such as headache, insomnia, fatigue, despair, lower back pain, mood swings etc.) and certain diseases (such as hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, diabetes mellitus etc). In view of permanent escalation of professional stressors, creating a supportive working environment is essential for positive health outcomes, prevention of job-related diseases and better protection of already ill nurses. Stres na radu i zdravlje medicinskih sestara u jedinicama intenzivne njege u Srbiji Cilj je ovoga rada bio identificirati i analizirati profesionalne stresore, procijeniti razinu stresa kod medicinskih sestara u jedinicama intenzivne njege te procijeniti korelaciju između percepcije stresa i prisutnosti psiholoških i somatskih simptoma ili bolesti kod medicinskih sestara. Istraživanje je provedeno u obliku studije presjeka u Jedinicama intenzivne njege u zdravstvenim centrima u Srbiji. Uzorak se sastojao od 1000 medicinskih sestara-tehničara. Za procjenu i analizu profesionalnih stresora korišten je upitnik Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS), koji je pokazao validne metrijske karakteristike na našoj ispitanoj populaciji. Medicinske sestre u Jedinicama intenzivne njege ocijenile su situacije iz fizičkoga i psihološkoga radnog okruženja kao izrazito opterećujuće, a situacije iz socijalnoga radnog okruženja kao manje opterećujuće. Razlika u percepciji stresogenosti navedenih radnih okruženja nije bila statistički značajna. Sociodemografske determinante ispitanika (dob, bračno stanje i stupanj obrazovanja) značajno utječu na percepciju stresa na radnom mjestu. Utvrđena je statistički značajna razlika u opažanju stresogenosti pojedinih stresnih situacija na radnom mjestu između medicinskih sestara u odnosu na postojanje psihosomatskih simptoma (kao što su glavobolja, nesanica, umor, očaj, bol u leđima, česte promjene raspoloženja) ili određenih bolesti (kao što su povišena hipertenzija, infarkt miokarda, cerebrovaskularni inzult, šećerna bolest). Zbog sve izraženije prisutnosti profesionalnih stresora nužno je poduzeti određene strateške mjere kod medicinskih sestara u Jedinicama intenzivne njege. Strateške mjere podrazumijevaju unaprjeđenje psihosocijalne radne klime, što bi unaprijedilo njihovo zdravlje i spriječilo nastanak bolesti u svezi s radom, ali i omogućilo bolju zaštitu već oboljelim medicinskim sestrama.

Continuing education of paediatric nurses in Vojvodina, Serbia

UNLABELLED The purpose of this study was to identify the need and degree of interest for continuing education of paediatric nurses at the Institute for Child and Youth Health Care of Vojvodina. DESIGN Descriptive study with prospective approach, which involved the use of surveys to elicit data collection. Data were collected during January and May of 2008. RESULTS In this study 94% of paediatric nurses who participated in the study have secondary education in nursing, and 80% have not attended any forms of continuing education thus far, and 8% had presented papers at national seminars. No forms of continuing education were found dominant, while nurses with less years of work experience, showed statistically much greater interest in continuing education. CONCLUSION Paediatric nurses in this study show the need for moral, ethical, and financial support from their supervisors and employers to realize their interest in continuing education, in accordance with their individual abilities. IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE Information about the specific educational needs of paediatric nurses in terms of content and methods provide a valuable guide for planning the effective continuing education programs, seminars, and professional conferences for improving clinical practice and providing exemplary nursing care to children.

Confidence level in venipuncture and knowledge on causes of in vitro hemolysis among healthcare professionals.

Introduction This study aimed to assess confidence level of healthcare professionals in venipuncture and their knowledge on the possible causes of in vitro hemolysis. Materials and methods A sample of 94 healthcare professionals (nurses and laboratory technicians) participated in this survey study. A four-section questionnaire was used as a research instrument comprising general information for research participants, knowledge on possible causes of in vitro hemolysis due to type of material used and venipuncture technique and specimen handling, as well as assessment of healthcare professionals’ confidence level in their own ability to perform first and last venipuncture. Results The average score on the knowledge test was higher in nurses’ than in laboratory technicians (8.11 ± 1.7, and 7.4 ± 1.5, respectively). The difference in average scores was statistically significant (P = 0.035) and Cohen’s d in the range of 0.4 indicates that there is a moderate difference on the knowledge test among the health care workers. Only 11/94 of healthcare professionals recognized that blood sample collection from cannula and evacuated tube is method which contributes most to the occurrence of in vitro hemolysis, whereas most risk factors affecting occurrence of in vitro hemolysis during venipuncture were recognized. There were no significant differences in mean score on the knowledge test in relation to the confidence level in venipuncture (P = 0.551). Conclusion Confidence level at last venipuncture among both profiles of healthcare staff was very high, but they showed insufficient knowledge about possible factors affecting hemolysis due to materials used in venipuncture compared with factors due to venipuncture technique and handling of blood sample.

Identification and analysis of stress factors at nursing workplace: A comparative study of four clinical departments

INTRODUCTION Several studies show that nursing is, by its very nature, an occupation exposed to a high degree of stress. The main aims of the present research were to analyze the presence and to identify occupational stress factors and assess stress levels among nurses in clinical/hospital settings. MATERIAL AND METHODS The research was conducted as a cross-sectional study. The sample included nurses (n=205) employed in different settings, who were also control groups to each other. Expanded Nursing Stress Scale and an additional questionnaire created for the purpose of this investigation were used as research instruments. RESULTS The results show that stressful situations, in the psychological occupational environment are the greatest stress factors regardless of the workplace: in regard to sociodemographic determinants, married nurses have significantly higher average values as compared to unmarried ones (p<0.05), and the values statistically significantly lower in nurses under 30 years of age, with less than 10 years of work experience (p<0.01). Workload is a potential stress factor from the physical environment, whereas average values of this stress factor highly statistically differ in regard to the workplace (p<0.01). Nurses working in settings without support from their superiors and engaged in inter-professional conflicts, especially between nurses and physicians, face a great problem. CONCLUSION It is important to promote conditions of work (work space, providing new equipment), organization of work, as well as social relationships, which is in accordance with the recommendations of ICN.

Hybrid patient classification system in nursing logistics activities

The history of patient classification in nursing dates back to the period of Florence Nightingale. The first and the foremost condition for providing quality nursing care, which is measured by care standards, and determined by number of hours of actual care, is the appropriate number of nurses. Patient classification criteria are discussed in this paper. Hybrid classification model based on learning vector quantization (LVQ) networks and self-organising maps (SOM) are purposed. It is possible to discus three types of experimental results. First result could be assessment of Braden scale and Mors scale by LVQ. Second result, the time for nursing logistics activities. The third is possibility to predict appropriate number of nurses for providing quality nursing care. This research was conducted on patients from Institute of Neurology, Clinical Centre of Vojvodina.

A Fuzzy Ordered Weighted Averaging Approach to Rerostering in Nurse Scheduling Problem

Medical staff performance and staff scheduling represent a significant determinant of public healthcare quality where the cost effectiveness is required from hospitals. There are two cases regarding the nurse scheduling problem, the static and dynamic. Dynamic nurse scheduling problem, often called nurse rerostering problem, which presents reconstruction or modification of the predetermined roster for the current scheduling horizon. This paper is focused on a new strategy of hybrid approach based on fuzzy ordered weighted averaging empirical model for detecting the best solution in nurse rerostering problem. The model is tested with original real-world dataset obtained from the Oncology Institute of Vojvodina in Serbia.

A Hybrid Approach to Detecting the Best Solution in Nurse Scheduling Problem

Staff scheduling at hospitals is a widely-studied area in both, operation research and management science because of cost effectiveness that is required from hospitals. There is an interest for procedures on how to run a hospital more economically and efficiently. The goal of nurse scheduling is to minimize the cost of the staff and maximizing their preferences. This paper is focused on a new strategy based on hybrid model for detecting the best solution in nurse scheduling problem. The new proposed hybrid approach is obtained by combining case-based reasoning and general linear empirical model with arbitrary coefficients. The model is tested with original real world dataset obtained from the Oncology Institute of Vojvodina in Serbia.