Psychosocial Work Climate of General Practice Nurses

Abstract

Relevance of the study: nurses face stressful psychosocial problems at work: psychological and physical aggression, heavy workload, criticism, disagreements, etc. (Kaburi et al., 2019; Starc, 2018). Stress has a definite effect on health behaviors (Jordan, Khubchandani, & Wiblishauser, 2016). Prolonged stress can cause occupational burnout, and nurses are at increased risk of this syndrome (Bačinina, 2014; Corso, 2017; Manzano-Garcia & Ayala, 2017). The problem of the study: what is the psychosocial work climate of general practice nurses? The object of the study: the psychosocial work climate of general practice nurses. The aim of the study: to evaluate the psychosocial work climate of general practice nurses. The objectives of the study: 1. To reveal the importance of the psychosocial work climate. 2. To identify the workplace psychosocial risks of general practice nurses. 3. To identify the workplace relations peculiarities of general practice nurses. The methods of the study: analysis of scientific literature, quantitative research using a questionnaire survey; research subjects: 300 general practice nurses. The main results of the empirical study: the results of the study revealed that the psychosocial work climate of nurses has good aspects, but also has its shortcomings. Most nurses have a good relationship with their supervisor (chief nurse) and colleagues, but there are times when there are difficulties at work due to team members who may not always provide the necessary social support, encourage gossip or conflict. No cases of physical aggression were found, but verbal aggression was encountered. Cases of sexual harassment and mobbing have also been reported, but those cases were isolated. The identified psychosocial risks that dominate the work of nurses are: physical stress, lack of ergonomics, unsafe contact with biological materials, side effects from protective latex gloves and disinfectants. It was found that work requirements, workload, pace are high and lack of time prevails. The salaries of nurses were viewed very negatively. Nurses said they had too little influence on work decisions, but rated work control positively. Uncertainty about the future and fear of medical error were found to prevail. According to nurses, they manage to reconcile work and private life. The final thesis was prepared during the implementation of the project funded by the Lithuanian Science Council "Assessment of the psycho-emotional climate and identification of psychosocial risks in the workplace of general practice nurses", project no. 09.3.3.-LMT-K-712-24-0117.