Affiliations: [a]
Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University, Germany
| [b]
Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine (ZfAM), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Stefanie Mache, Institute for Occupational Medicine and Maritime Medicine (ZfAM), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20251 Hamburg, Germany. E-mail: s.mache@uke.de.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Nurses working in hospitals can suffer from occupational stress due to high workloads and low job and/or personal resources. This can lead to work-related stress, exhaustion, health problems, and low quality of care. OBJECTIVE:The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of work-related self-care skill training for nurses. METHODS:A pilot study was conducted with 94 nurses in hospital departments in Germany. Nurses were either assigned to the intervention group that received competence training or to a waitlist control group. The intervention took place in groups over a period of 12 weeks. Training content included i.e. work-related stress management training, problem-solving techniques, and solution-focused counselling. The outcomes studied were changes in work-related stress, emotional exhaustion, emotion regulation, and job satisfaction. Three follow-up assessments were arranged. RESULTS:Nurses in the IG achieved a decrease in perceived job stress and emotional exhaustion as well as improvements with regard to enhanced emotion regulation skills. The intervention was evaluated with high satisfaction scores. CONCLUSIONS:This study showed first indications that training of mental health self-care skills for junior nurses could be a supportive approach for nurses starting work in hospital departments. However, replication studies are needed to verify the results.
Keywords: Competence, evaluation, health promotion, stress, workplace intervention
