Investigation of occupational fatigue and safety climate among nurses using the structural equation model

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Dopolani, Fatemeh Nemati^a | Arefi, Maryam Feiz^{b; c} | Akhlaghi Pirposhteh, Elham^d | Ghalichi Zaveh, Zahra^b | Salehi, Ali Sahlabadi^e | Khajehnasiri, Farahnaz^f | Hami, Mahsa^g | Poursadeqiyan, Mohsen^{h; i; *} | Khammar, Alireza^{j; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Nursing, Petrochemical Industries Hospital, Mahshahr, Iran | [b] Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran | [c] Health Sciences Research Center, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran | [d] Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran | [e] Department of Occupational Health and Safety, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran | [f] Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran | [g] Health Management and Economics Research Center, Health Management Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran | [h] Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Health, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran | [i] Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran | [j] Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Mohsen Poursadeqiyan, E-mail: poursadeghiyan@gmail.com and Alireza Khammmar, E-mail: alireza.khammar@zbmu.ac.ir.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Nursing is associated with many stressful situations that can lead to fatigue, reduced efficiency, and physical and mental illness. Safety climate is one of the most important indicators of safety management performance assessment that assesses employees’ attitudes towards safety issues. OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between safety climate and occupational fatigue in nurses. METHOD:This descriptive-analytical study was performed on nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Zabol University of Medical Sciences in 2019. 143 nurses were selected by the proportional sampling method and entered the study. Demographic questionnaires, Occupational Fatigue Inventory (SOFI), and Nurses’ Safety Assessment Questionnaire were used for data collection. Statistical tests, including Independent T-Test, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were used to analyze the results using SPSS software version 21, and the multivariate structural equation was used for modeling. RESULTS:The mean scores of safety climate and occupational fatigue were 67.15±12.73 and 85.09±41.49, respectively. Job and demographic variables except for the second job (P-value = 0.065) had a significant effect on the variables of safety climate and occupational fatigue. There were also higher scores for occupational fatigue and all of its subscales in the group of women compared to the group of men. CONCLUSION:The results showed that occupational and demographic variables have significant effects on safety climate and occupational fatigue. There was a significant relationship between demographic variables of age, work experience, and education level with safety climate. There was also a significant relationship between education level, job satisfaction, satisfaction with colleagues and work experience with occupational fatigue. Therefore, paying attention to fatigue and safety climate of nurses in workplaces is recommended.

Keywords: Safety culture, burn out, job satisfaction, health care

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-213648

Journal: Work, vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 1129-1139, 2022