A1560 Work engagement in the nursing profession and occupational stress

Thursday, March 22, 2012
Ground Floor (Cancun Center)
Etsuko Fukuoka, Department of Community Health Nursing, Niimi College, Niimi, Japan
Toshiyo Taniguchi, Department of Welfare System and Health Science, Okayama Prefectural University, Sojya, Japan
Introduction
There have been numerous prior studies published on occupational stress among nursing professionals, but not so much on work engagement. Work engagement is a concept proposed by Professor Schaufeli, et al., of Utrecht University, Holland, and is a condition in which all 3 components of “feeling pride and satisfaction in job,” “enthusiastically involved in job,” and "energized by job which is lively” are satisfied. The purpose is to understand the actuality of work engagement and occupational stress in nursing professionals, and search for a method of improving working conditions.

Methods
Subjects: 250 people, excluding those missing values for sex, age, etc., of a total of 305 nurses working in rehabilitation facilities for the elderly and 102 members of the O occupational health nurses Committee. Research items: face sheet, occupational stress, work engagement, etc. The ?2-test was performed to verify the classification of stress in order to divide work engagement scores into 2 groups.

Results
Recovery: 81.9%, women nursing professionals, average age was 45.2-years old. Groups with high work engagement scores were significantly high in the Active group and significantly low in the Passive group. Groups with high subscale activity scores were significantly high in the Active group. Groups with high enthusiasm scores were significantly high in the Active group. Groups with high devotion scores were significantly high in the Active group.

Discussion
The Active group had the highest mean value for work engagement scores, followed by the Low strain group. The mean value for work engagement was low in the Passive group and the High strain group. The Active group is desirable in terms of stress classification. It is necessary to create a job environment that allows nursing professionals to ensure their own discretionary power. Moreover, it is important for the employer and employee to mutually consider creating a lively working environment.