Martin Euwema

Job Resources Buffer the Impact of Job Demands on Burnout.

This study tested and refined the job demands-resources model, demonstrating that several job resources play a role in buffering the impact of several job demands on burnout. A total of 1,012 employees of a large institute for higher education participated in the study. Four demanding aspects of the job (e.g., work overload, emotional demands) and 4 job resources (e.g., autonomy, performance feedback) were used to test the central hypothesis that the interaction between (high) demands and (low) resources produces the highest levels of burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, reduced professional efficacy). The hypothesis was rejected for (reduced) professional efficacy but confirmed for exhaustion and cynicism regarding 18 out of 32 possible 2-way interactions (i.e., combinations of specific job demands and resources).

Crossover of Burnout and Engagement in Work Teams

This study investigates the crossover of burnout and work engagement among 2,229 Royal Dutch constabulary officers, working in one of 85 teams. The authors hypothesized that both states may transfer from teams to individual team members. The results of multilevel analyses confirm this crossover phenomenon by showing that team-level burnout and work engagement are related to individual team members’ burnout (i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy) and work engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption), after controlling for individual members’ job demands and resources. The implications of these findings for interventions aimed at the promotion of employee well-being are discussed.

Burnout, job stress and violent behaviour among Dutch police officers

Much has been published on burnout in the human services. However, despite the extensive literature on job stress in policing, burnout in police officers has rarely been studied. The present study examined stressors in police work, focusing specifically on the lack of reciprocity that officers experience in relations with civilians, colleagues and the police service. It also investigated the relationship between burnout and the attitudes of officers towards violence, as well as to their own use of violence. Dutch police officers (N = 358) completed a self-report questionnaire. The results showed that: (1) organizational stressors were more prevalent than task-related stressors; (2) compared to other service jobs, police officers report a particular profile on the three scales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)?a relatively low level of emotional exhaustion,an average level of depersonalization, and a high level of personal accomplishment; (3) burnout is associated with a lack of reciprocity between in...

Motivated information processing, strategic choice, and the quality of negotiated agreement

The authors tested a motivated information-processing model of negotiation: To reach high joint outcomes, negotiators need a deep understanding of the task, which requires them to exchange information and to process new information systematically. All this depends on social motivation, epistemic motivation (EM), and their interaction. Indeed, when EM (manipulated by holding negotiators process accountability or not) was high rather than low and prosocial rather than proself, negotiators recall more cooperative than competitive tactics (Experiment 1), had more trust, and reached higher joint outcomes (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 showed that under high EM, negotiators who received cooperative, rather than competitive, tactics reached higher joint outcomes because they engaged in more problem solving. Under low EM, negotiators made more concessions and reached low joint outcomes. Implications for negotiation theory and for future work in this area are discussed.

Occupational Stress and the Use of Force by Dutch Police Officers

This study addresses three issues. First, characteristics of Dutch police work and the stressful aspects of this work are described. Second, the levels of burnout of Dutch police officers are assessed in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Finally, burnout is related to the use of force by police officers. Data were collected through participant observation during 122 patrol shifts and by a questionnaire distributed to police officers (N = 358). Organizational hazards emerged as the most frequently stressful and demanding aspects of police work. Compared to other professions, police officers score relatively low on emotional exhaustion, relatively high on depersonalization, and average on personal accomplishment. Significant relationships were found between burnout of police officers and a positive attitude toward the use of force, the self-reported use of force, and the independently observed use of force. Implications for research, police management, and police training are discussed.

Health Care Professionals as Second Victims after Adverse Events A Systematic Review

Adverse events within health care settings can lead to two victims. The first victim is the patient and family and the second victim is the involved health care professional. The latter is the focus of this review. The objectives are to determine definitions of this concept, research the prevalence and the impact of the adverse event on the second victim, and the used coping strategies. Therefore a literature research was performed by using a three-step search procedure. A total of 32 research articles and 9 nonresearch articles were identified. The second victim phenomenon was first described by Wu in 2000. In 2009, Scott et al. introduced a detailed definition of second victims. The prevalence of second victims after an adverse event varied from 10.4% up to 43.3%. Common reactions can be emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. The coping strategies used by second victims have an impact on their patients, colleagues, and themselves. After the adverse event, defensive as well as constructive changes have been reported in practice. The second victim phenomenon has a significant impact on clinicians, colleagues, and subsequent patients. Because of this broad impact it is important to offer support for second victims. When an adverse event occurs, it is critical that support networks are in place to protect both the patient and involved health care providers.

The impact of shiftwork on work-home conflict, job attitudes and health

The present study was designed to test the impact of rotation and timing of shifts on work – home conflict, job attitudes, health and absenteeism among the military police. A total of 3122 employees participated in the study. Discriminant analysis was used to examine the relationships between rotation and timing of shifts on the one hand, and the outcome measures on the other. Whether employees had fixed dayshifts, fixed non-day shifts including weekends, or rotating shifts with or without weekends, could be predicted on the basis of the experienced work – home conflict, job attitudes, health and absenteeism. Each of the two parameters of shiftwork differentially affected the experience of the outcome measures. Rotation was most clearly related to unfavourable job attitudes (namely job satisfaction, cynicism, turnover intentions and professional efficacy), whereas timing was most clearly related to increased work – home conflict. The results suggest that fixed non-day shifts including weekends (i.e., during highly valuable times) should be avoided in order to minimize the conflict between work and home and that rotation rosters should be designed with a high degree of individualization and flexibility. These seem to be the most promising ways to reduce the negative consequences of shiftwork for employees, their families and organizations.

Supporting involved health care professionals (second victims) following an adverse health event: A literature review

BACKGROUND One out of seven patients is involved in an adverse event. The first priority after such an event is the patient and their family (first victim). However the involved health care professionals can also become victims in the sense that they are traumatized after the event (second victim). They can experience significant personal and professional distress. Second victims use different coping strategies in the aftermath of an adverse event, which can have a significant impact on clinicians, colleagues, and subsequent the patients. It is estimated that nearly half of health care providers experience the impact as a second victim at least once in their career. Because of this broad impact it is important to offer support. OBJECTIVE The focus of this review is to identify supportive interventional strategies for second victims. STUDY DESIGN An extensive search was conducted in the electronic databases Medline, Embase and Cinahl. We searched from the start data of each database until September 2010. RESULTS A total of 21 research articles and 10 non-research articles were identified in this literature review. There are numerous supportive actions for second victims described in the literature. Strategies included support organized at the individual, organizational, national or international level. A common intervention identified support for the health care provider to be rendered immediately. Strategies on organizational level can be separated into programs specifically aimed at second victims and more comprehensive programs that include support for all individuals involved in the adverse event including the patient, their family, the health care providers, and the organization. CONCLUSION Second victim support is needed to care for health care workers and to improve quality of care. Support can be provided at the individual and organizational level. Programs need to include support provided immediately post adverse event as well as on middle long and long term basis.

Better interprofessional teamwork, higher level of organized care, and lower risk of burnout in acute health care teams using care pathways: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background:Effective interprofessional teamwork is an essential component for the delivery of high-quality patient care in an increasingly complex medical environment. The objective is to evaluate whether the implementation of care pathways (CPs) improves teamwork in an acute hospital setting. Design and Measures:A posttest-only cluster randomized controlled trial was performed in Belgian acute hospitals. Teams caring for patients hospitalized with a proximal femur fracture and those hospitalized with an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group implemented a CP. The control group provided usual care. A set of team input, process, and output indicators were used as effect measures. To analyze the results, we performed multilevel statistical analysis. Results:Thirty teams and a total of 581 individual team members participated. The intervention teams scored significantly better in conflict management [&bgr;=0.30 (0.11); 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.08 to 0.53]; team climate for innovation [&bgr;=0.29 (0.10); 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.49]; and level of organized care [&bgr;=5.56 (2.05); 95% CI, 1.35 to 9.76]. They also showed lower risk of burnout as they scored significantly lower in emotional exhaustion [&bgr;=−0.57 (0.21); 95% CI, −1.00 to −0.14] and higher in the level of competence (&bgr;=0.39; 95% CI, 0.15 to 0.64). No significant effect was found on relational coordination. Conclusions:CPs are effective interventions for improving teamwork, increasing the organizational level of care processes, and decreasing risk of burnout for health care teams in an acute hospital setting. Through this, high-performance teams can be built.

Who wants to be a mentor? An examination of attitudinal, instrumental, and social motivational components

Purpose – This study investigates the influence of affective organizational commitment, career aspirations, and networking activities on propensity to mentor (serving as a mentor and desiring to become a mentor).Design/methodology/approach – Data from websurveys of 262 managerial employees of a Dutch bank are analyzed using logistic regression.Findings – Results indicate that affective organizational commitment is unrelated to propensity to mentor, whereas career aspirations are positively related, and networking activities are negatively related to serving as a mentor, but not desiring to be a mentor.Research limitations/implications – The study is limited by its reliance on self‐report data and the Dutch culture may have influenced the results of the study to an unknown degree.Practical implications – Results of this study suggest that employees volunteering to be a mentor are clearly ambitious in terms of their own career, but are not necessarily highly committed to their organization nor do they perfo...