Stress in emergency services workers

OBJECTIVES: Emergency medical services (EMSs) personnel are at high risk for developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). However, no studies have yet investigated the prevalence and effect of these disorders on the Jordanian EMS personnel. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of WMSDs among Jordanian EMS personnel and its associated factors. DESIGN: This study used a cross-sectional design. Participants were asked to complete a self-administrated and validated questionnaire to measure the WMSDs, including a demographic survey and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire...

BACKGROUND: Emergency medical service (EMS) workers face challenging working conditions that are characterized by high stress and a susceptibility to making errors. The objectives of the present study were (a) to characterize the psychosocial working conditions of EMS workers, (b) to describe the perceived quality of patient care they provide and patient safety, and (c) to investigate for the first time among EMS workers associations of psychosocial working conditions with the quality of patient care and patient safety...

As HIV/AIDS health care workers (HCWs) deliver services during COVID-19 under difficult conditions, practicing trauma-informed care (TIC) may mitigate negative effects on mental health and well-being. This secondary qualitative analysis of a larger mixed methods study sought to understand the pandemic's impact on HCWs at Ryan White-funded clinics (RWCs) across the southeastern US and assess changes in prioritization of TIC. RWC administrators, providers, and staff were asked about impacts on clinic operations/culture, HCW well-being, institutional support for well-being, and prioritization of TIC...

PURPOSE: COVID-19 impact on the population's mental health has been reported worldwide. Predicting healthcare workers' mental health and life stress is needed to proactively plan for future emergencies. DESIGN: Statistics Canada has surveyed Canadian healthcare workers and those working in healthcare settings to gauge their perceived mental health and perceived life stress. SETTING: A cross-sectional survey of healthcare workers in Canada...

BACKGROUND: HIV partner disclosure rates remain low among pregnant women living with HIV in many African countries despite potential benefits for women and their families. Partner disclosure can trigger negative responses like blame, violence, and separation. Women diagnosed with HIV late in pregnancy have limited time to prepare for partner disclosure. We sought to understand challenges around partner disclosure and non-disclosure faced by women diagnosed with HIV late in pregnancy in South Africa and Uganda and to explore pathways to safe partner disclosure...

OBJECTIVES: To know the needs and lack of information on health issues of Maghrebi women. SUBJECTS, MATERIAL AND METHOD: Design: Qualitative study technique nominal group (TGN). SUBJECTS: 14 North African women from Association for Solidarity and Rapprochement of Cultures (ASAC) from the rural clinic of La Aljorra who knew and understood Spanish, older age, and lived in the town for more than 3 years. Material and method TGN asks: «What daily health issues for you and your family worry you the most and do you need answers?» Individual reflection and list that were discussed among them, joining the group consensus...

BACKGROUND: Positive mental health (PMH) is a construct used to define and evaluate health from a positive perspective. Healthcare professionals in the emergency ambulance service are more likely to experience mental health disorders than the overall population. The demographic and occupational variables and Sense of Coherence (SOC) can act as predictors of PMH and can serve as protective elements against stress and demanding situations in the work environment. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate PMH and its relationship with demographic and occupational variables and determine if SOC is a predictive variable for PMH in health professionals working in the emergency ambulance service...

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the perception of self-efficacy on the health professionals of the Spanish out-of-hospital emergency services. DESIGN: Observational, cross-sectional and descriptive with a survey methodology of 1710 participants from Spain (1 February-30 April, 2021). METHODS: The mental health of healthcare workers was assesed in terms of stress, anxiety and depression, as well as their self-efficacy...

BACKGROUND: Harm reduction (HR) is a critical response to the pronounced toxicity deaths being experienced in Canada. HR providers report many benefits of their jobs, but also encounter chronic stress from structural inequities and exposure to trauma and death. This research study sought to quantify the emotional toll the toxicity emergency placed on HR providers (Cycle One; 2019). Study objectives were later expanded to determine the impact of the ongoing toxicity as well as the pandemic's impact on well-being (Cycle Two; 2021)...

OBJECTIVE: To assess personal and work-related factors influencing the stress levels of nurses during prehospital care. Specifically, to identify associations between the level of perceived stress, the degree of professional experience, and the level of knowledge. Secondly, to examine the relationship between stress levels and violence in the work environment. And third, to investigate the main protective factors against work-related stress during prehospital care. METHODS: Systematic review in PubMed, WOS, Enfispo, Cochrane, and LILACS databases following the PRISMA methodology (last search 08/Aug/2023)...

INTRODUCTION: As the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic continues globally, the personal and professional pressure on health care workers continues to accumulate. Literature suggests that as the pandemic evolves, nurses are experiencing increased levels of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, ultimately leading them to voice intentions to leave the profession, if they have not done so already. METHODS: Informed by an interpretive hermeneutic phenomenological approach, this longitudinal study was designed to capture how the lived experiences of 9 emergency nurses evolved over the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, highlighting their feelings, attitudes, and perceptions toward working in the emergency department at this time in history...

Job stress is one of the important factors affecting employee behavior. One of the most important factors in reducing burnout caused by stress is organizational support. In this context, the aim of this study is to identify the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the effect of workload perception on burnout within the emergency healthcare professionals' universe. The data for this study were collected from 703 health professionals working in emergency health services in three major cities of Turkey...

OBJECTIVES: Earthquakes are one of the most studied uncontrollable natural conditions that cause negative psychological consequences. Although health-care workers (HCWs) are trained to manage trauma in the out-of-hospital area, uncontrollable tragic events in the earthquake field and exposure to life-threatening situations may cause psychological disorders. This study aimed to investigate the risk of the development of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the factors affecting it in HCWs working in the region during major earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaras...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the mental trauma and coping status of emergency health care workers who responded to the earthquake affected people in the October 2020 Izmir earthquake. METHODS: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Posttraumatic Cognition Inventory, Strategies for Coping with Earthquake Stress Scale (SCESS), and Post-earthquake Trauma Level Determination Scale (PETLDS) were used. Independent t-test, analysis of variance, Tukey's test, and Pearson's correlation analysis were used for statistical analysis...

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate occupational health-related activities and factors related to the violation of labor-related regulations in hospitals in Hokkaido and Tohoku districts. METHODS: The study questionnaires were distributed to 1,108 Hokkaido and Tohoku hospitals in April 2024, among whom 307 (answered by June 2) participated. The questionnaires included queries on hospital characteristics, occupational health-related activities, and labor-related laws...

BACKGROUND: Extensive research has been conducted on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on long-term care workers in specialized care facilities. However, little is known about the impacts faced by facilities that provide generalized long-term support and care, such as residential care facilities for older adults (RCFs). This study describes the challenges experienced by staff and administrators of RCFs during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An electronic questionnaire collecting data using both closed- and open-ended questions on staff experiences was sent to 5,721 unique RCF administrator emails within the state of California between June-December 2021...

Children were at a greater risk of adverse experiences, including maltreatment, during the COVID-19 pandemic given the increased stress experienced by families and reduced visibility outside the home. Child maltreatment investigators witnessed the effects of the pandemic on maltreated children and offer valuable insight regarding children's experiences during the pandemic. The objective of this study was to examine child maltreatment investigators' perspectives of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maltreated children and their families in Canada...

INTRODUCTION: Recently, burnout has amassed considerable attention because of deleterious effects on workers and the work environment. Frequently, EMS clinicians find themselves prone to experiencing burnout, yet little is known about etiologies in this population. OBJECTIVE: To estimate prevalence and predictors of burnout in EMS clinicians. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey study of nine EMS agencies from North Carolina selected based on geography and population...

Retention of care support workers in residential aged care facilities and home-based, domiciliary aged care is a global challenge, with rapid turnover, low job satisfaction, and poorly defined career pathways. A mixed-methods systematic review of the workforce literature was conducted to understand the factors that attract and retain care staff across the aged care workforce. The search yielded 49 studies. Three studies tested education and training interventions with the aim of boosting workforce retention and the remaining 46 studies explored opinions and experiences of care workers in 20 quantitative, four mixed-methods and 22 qualitative studies...

GOAL: Rising incidents of violence and mistreatment of healthcare workers by patients and visitors have been reported. U.S. healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience nonfatal workplace violence (WPV) than workers in any other profession. However, less is known about the national trends in the incidence of violence and mistreatment in healthcare. The specific organizational and individual-level factors that relate to stress arising from these occurrences specifically by patients and family members are also not fully understood...