Nicholas A. Sieveking

Job satisfaction as a function of job level.

The job satisfaction of psychiatric hospital employees has been historically under-researched (Buffum & Konick, 1982; Sarrata, 1974) and this is particularly true of private, for profit hospitals. The current lack of understanding is problematic because there is a well-documented connection between job satisfaction and both employee and psychiatric patient health and well-being (Buffum & Konick, 1982; Landeweerd & Boumans, 1988; Numerof & Abrams, 2000). Psychiatric hospitals, like many hospitals (Sieveking, Bellet, & Martson, 1993; Sieveking & Woods, 1992), have also been identified as difficult places to work (Buffum & Konick, 2000), and have high turnover (Prosser et al., 1999; Wykes, Stevens, & Everitt, 1997). Furthermore, ‘‘burnout’’ is common among mental health professionals (Cox & Leiter, 1992; Maslach & Jackson, 1986), but is particularly problematic for psychiatric hospital employees (Thornton, 1982). There is also evidence that burnout can effect the entire staff of a ward, leading to ‘‘front-line collapse’’ and declines in the quality of patient care (Munro, 1980). Moreover, health care executives report that locating and retaining employees is one of their greatest challenges (Thrall & Hoppszallern, 2001), and given that psychiatric hospital employees take time before deciding to leave their employment (Hiscott & Connop, 1996), there is a potential window of opportunity for improved retention if employee concerns can be adequately addressed. Understanding the job satisfaction of employees is an important organizational goal for any organization, but particularly those facing steep fiscal challenges. Private psychiatric hospitals are currently facing such challenges. Recently, Gimmy & Baumbach (2001) conducted an extensive evaluation of the economic challenges faced by private psychiatric hospitals. These hospitals face high turnover, falling Keith R. Aronson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Director at the Social Sciences Research Institute at Pennsylvania State University. Jean-Phillipe Laurenceau, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Miami. Nicholas Sieveking, Ph.D., is Director of the Psychological and Counseling Center at Vanderbilt University. William Bellet, Ph.D., is Consulting Clinical Psychologist at Bellet, Sieveking, and Associates. Address for correspondence: Keith R. Aronson, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Children, Youth, and Families Consortium, The Pennsylvania State University, 105 Health and Human Development East Building, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: kra105@psu.edu. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, Vol. 32, No. 3, January 2005 ( 2005) DOI: 10.1007/s10488-004-0845-2

A Student-Centered Individual-Level University Retention Program Where Attrition is Low

Retention research and intervention strategies at low attrition institutions can often benefit from approaches other than the traditional methods that employ sampling techniques and statistical analysis. For example, many students will predict the likelihood of their own dropping out and then follow-up by requesting university-based counseling services. The difficulties such students describe are often idiosyncratic and may not lend themselves to large-scale categorizations. Often, the students themselves are not fully aware of the reasons for their anticipated withdrawal and make misleading attributions of cause, frequently adopting commonly identified university chalenges. Furthermore, in order to initiate prevention programs, it is not always necessary to know the “real” reason for which a student might withdraw. Rather, individual counseling and/or referrals within a university network, in a package of investigative and clinical services, can further retention while maintaining a neutral stance on the “true” reasons students choose to leave an institution. In many cases, such one-on-one interventions can improve retention even when an actual resolution of the individuals stated problems is not achieved. The current article describes a systematic “student centered” retention program developed under the auspices of a university Psychological and Counseling Center. Through self-identification and follow-up, individuals are assisted with complex issues, which if not addressed, commonly lead to withdrawal. One principle suggested by our work is that, at high retention schools, a useful alternative is promoting reasons for students to stay rather than attempting to predict and resolve the multiple reasons for which they might choose to leave. Additionally, the student-centered retention approach may lead to the identification of university-wide issues, and hence to long-term structural change in the institution.

Employees' views of their work experience in private hospitals.

Employees in 10 private for-profit hospitals responded to questionnaires regarding their work experiences, hospital facilities, and employer. Replicated results identified themes of employee opinions, including: Supervision, The Employer, Role Significance, Hospital Image, Competitiveness, Benefits, Cohesiveness, and Work Load. Only scores on the Role Significance scale differed between clinical and non-clinical respondents, with the former scoring higher. Survey methodology can be used to define an organizations culture from the employees viewpoint. Their perception of this culture helps determine their behavior at work and their conveying the image of their facility in the community. The recent emphasis on quality improvement and ‘bottom-up’ management presents a particularly well-suited opportunity for the effective use of surveys. Quality improvement efforts involve employee groups which empower workers as active diagnosticians, internal consultants, and decision makers. Survey defined ‘action levers’ portray avenues along which such constructive efforts might be directed. Also, surveys identify themes through which management can evaluate organizational performance overall and department by department, building in means by which those responsible for units of the hospital can be accountable for achieving measurable results.

Teaching intercultural awareness to first‐year medical students via experiential exercises

This study assessed the extent to which a one‐time experiential intervention improved intercultural awareness and sensitivity among first‐year medical students. The students participated in group activities in which they shared personal experiences, solved a hypothetical problem, and engaged in team building exercises. Post‐intervention, students reported less intercultural awareness, but a greater commitment to improving the intercultural climate of the medical school and an increased willingness to work in diverse groups during their medical training. The results of the study suggest that experiential interventions may provide an important complement to didactics around issues of intercultural awareness and sensitivity with medical students. Importantly, experiential interventions must provide students with sufficient time to reflect upon and discuss feelings, thoughts and attitudes that emerge during this kind of intercultural awareness training.

A Child-Adult Research Form of the Pittsburgh Scales of Social Extraversion-Introversion and Emotionality

Summary Bendigs (1) Pittsburgh Scales of Social Extraversion-Introversion (SEI) and Emotionality (Em) were translated so that they were of appropriate reading difficulty for children as well as for adults. The revised scales correlated highly (both .90) with the Pittsburgh scales, and they had high test-retest reliabilities (.92 and .89). Data from samples representing third grade to college ages were presented for the revised scales. SEI-Em correlations were nonsignificant for most subsamples, indicating that the revised SEI-Em scales are independent. Scale means were stable across ages. The revised scales should be considered as research instruments, since more representative normative data and validity data are still required. The scales should, though, facilitate developmental research in extraversion and emotionality.