title: Too little appreciation for great expenditure? Workload and resources in ICUs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was providing descriptive information and the comparative examination of job strain and mental health of nurses and physicians in different intensive care units (ICU).
  
  
  METHODS
  The Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire by Siegrist and standardized psychometric questionnaires, like Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Impact of Event Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory, Social Support Questionnaire, and Life Satisfaction Questionnaire were used. Five ICUs of the same German medical school were included (N = 142).
  
  
  RESULTS
  For all ICUs investigated, a significantly lower mental health and a high effort-reward imbalance were found when compared with other samples. Only a few differences between the wards or both professional groups (nurses vs. physicians) were noted. The values for social support were comparable with those of healthy controls but differed between the wards. The life satisfaction in our cohort was lower compared to a population-based sample but was significant different between the wards.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrates the high job strain in an ICU, largely independent of the professional group. Noteworthy, a high effort-reward imbalance was found that stands in positive relation to adverse health effects (anxiety, depression, and general mental health). As a consequence, necessary interventions like stress management, supervision, and communication trainings should consider ward-specific conditions of employment rather than professional affiliation. After these interventions, a follow-up study will be performed to examine beneficial effects on job strain and health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. Jasper.Stefanie@mh-hannover.de
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jasper
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stephan
authors.forename: Hani
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Khalaf
authors.forename: Hans-Oliver
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Rennekampff
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Vogt
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mirastschijski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009013:Morale; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012201:Reward; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
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