Search Results (20)

Background/Objectives: Empathy is a core competency in nursing, contributing to patient care quality and professional resilience. This study investigated empathy levels among Greek undergraduate nursing students at the University of Peloponnese and examined the personal and educational factors that contribute to empathic development. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 144 students from all academic years using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy—Health Professions (JSPE-HP) and the SF-12 Health Survey. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and stepwise multiple linear regression. Results: Mean empathy scores were relatively high (M = 110.31, SD = 10.52). Empathy increased significantly with academic progression (p < 0.001), and higher scores were associated with parental status (p = 0.030) and better mental health (p = 0.044). Conversely, students with a chronically ill close contact reported lower empathy (p = 0.018). Regression analysis identified having children and exposure to chronic illness as significant predictors. Conclusions: Educational progression, life experience, and well-being are key contributors to empathy development. These insights support strategies to enhance empathy through curriculum design, student support, and wellness programs. Integrating empathy training into management policy can foster professional growth, reduce burnout, and improve patient care and workforce sustainability. Full article

Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic placed substantial mental and physical burdens on healthcare workers, particularly nurses. In the post-pandemic period, sustained stress, elevated mental workload and disturbed sleep may continue to affect well-being and job performance. This study aimed to assess perceived stress levels, occupational stress, and sleep quality among Hungarian nurses, while identifying key demographic, occupational, and behavioral predictors. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted from April to July 2022 among nurses employed in Hungarian general hospitals (N = 418). Data were collected via an online self-administered questionnaire. Stress and sleep quality were measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS), and Groningen Sleep Quality Scale (GSQS). Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, ANOVA, post hoc tests, t-tests, and Pearson’s correlation (p < 0.05). Results: The mean PSS-14 score was 27.82 (SD = 7.82), indicating moderate stress. Sleep quality was poor (mean GSQS = 7.29, SD = 4.28), with significant positive correlation with perceived stress (r = 0.442, p < 0.001). Low income, lower education, and high coffee or alcohol consumption, and multiple night shifts were significantly associated with higher stress and poorer sleep quality. Occupational stress and mental workload, as measured by ENSS, was highest in internal medicine (mean = 122.16, SD = 37.09; p = 0.033). The most burdensome ENSS subscale was “workload” (mean = 2.30, SD = 0.92), with “not enough staff to adequately cover the unit” identified as the most stressful item. Additional cognitive and emotional workload components included dealing with violent patients and a lack of emotional preparedness in supporting families. Conclusions: Post-COVID nurses in Hungary experience moderate stress and impaired sleep. Excessive workload, emotional demands, and shift patterns significantly contribute to psychological and cognitive strain. Institutional and policy-level interventions are needed to reduce occupational stress and promote workforce resilience. Full article

Burnout and moral distress are increasingly recognized as critical challenges within healthcare systems, particularly in high-stress environments such as intensive care units (ICUs). This cross-sectional study investigates the prevalence and interrelationships of moral distress, burnout, and turnover intentions among ICU nurses in Latvia, a country facing significant nursing shortages and structural workforce challenges. A total of 155 ICU nurses completed validated instruments assessing moral distress, the three subscales of burnout (personal, work-related, and client-related), and intentions to leave the profession. The results indicate that 68.2% of respondents experienced moderate to high levels of moral distress, especially related to providing aggressive treatment contrary to clinical judgment. Burnout scores were highest in the personal and work-related dimensions, with emotional exhaustion strongly correlated with moral distress. Approximately 30% of participants reported active intentions to leave their positions. Regression and mediation analyses confirmed that moral distress significantly predicted both burnout and turnover intentions, with burnout partially mediating this relationship. These findings highlight urgent risks not only to nurse well-being but also to healthcare quality and sustainability. This study underscores the importance of systemic interventions, including structured workload assessment tools, psychological support, and ethical consultation services. The results contribute to the international literature and offer context-specific insights for workforce resilience in Eastern European health systems. Full article

This study explores dropout from professional training programs for early childhood educarers from the perspective of those who left a national training course before completion—a viewpoint previously unexamined in Israel or internationally. While dropout has been studied in various educational contexts, this study addresses the research gap by focusing on the participants themselves. Based on semi-structured interviews with 15 educarers from four training colleges, the study identifies four key themes: (1) the challenge of learning in heterogeneous groups combining beginners and veterans that overlook prior experience; (2) the physical and emotional strain of attending evening classes after full workdays, particularly for mothers of young children; (3) disappointment with the lack of practical tools and an overly theoretical curriculum; and (4) the absence of emotional and professional support mechanisms during the course. These findings highlight a systemic misalignment between the structure of the training and participants’ lived realities. The study expands the job demands–resources model by framing dropout as an outcome of imbalanced responsibility across participants, training institutions, and workplaces. It calls for differentiated, context-sensitive training that integrates practical tools with theoretical content and provides sustained support to strengthen professional capacity and retention in the early childhood workforce. Full article

The modern workplace grapples with a human energy crisis, characterized by chronic exhaustion, disengagement, and emotional depletion among employees. Traditional well-being initiatives often fail to address this systemic challenge, particularly in industrial contexts. This study introduces the Human Energy Management System (HEMS), a strategic framework to develop, implement, and refine strategies for optimizing workforce energy. Grounded in Industry 5.0’s human-centric, resilient, and sustainable principles, HEMS integrates enterprise risk management (ERM), design thinking, and the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. Employing a qualitative Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, the study reframes human energy depletion as an organizational risk, providing a proactive, empathetic, and iterative approach to mitigate workplace stressors. The HEMS framework is developed and evaluated through theoretical modeling, literature benchmarking, and secondary case studies, rather than empirical testing, aligning with DSR’s focus on conceptual validation. Findings suggest HEMS offers a robust tool to operationalize human energy reinforcement strategies in industrial settings. Consistent with the European Union’s vision for human-centric industrial transformation, HEMS enables organizations to foster a resilient, engaged, and thriving workforce in both stable and challenging times. Full article

The rise of knowledge-based economies has positioned higher education institutions as key actors in human capital development, requiring them to engage more actively with labor markets through strategic partnerships. Within this context, university-affiliated science and technology parks (STPs) have evolved into integrated learning environments that support experiential learning and mentorship practices. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of undergraduate students who participated in these processes within an STP in İstanbul, Türkiye. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 students selected via purposive maximum variation sampling. Thematic analysis, supported by MAXQDA 2024, was used to examine the data. Two main themes were identified: (i) talent development through experiential learning and (ii) talent development through mentorship. The findings indicate that students reconstructed theoretical knowledge through real-world applications, developed a clearer professional identity, and gained strategic career awareness. Mentorship provided both technical and psychosocial support, fostering self-confidence, emotional security, and role modeling. This study concludes that STPs play a strategic role in aligning academic learning with employability and institutional talent development goals. These results contribute to broader educational and workforce development discussions and are closely aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education) and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), highlighting STPs as transformative platforms in higher education. Moreover, this study offers practical implications for aligning higher education with employment systems through structured experiential learning and mentorship practices. Full article

Self-care is a complex concept that incorporates various strategies designed to promote personal wellbeing and prevent illness, which is a critical need in nursing given the profession’s inherent stressors. The physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological demands placed on nurses can significantly influence their wellbeing and the quality of care they provide. Yet, professional accountability and responsibility for self-care remains contested within the profession. To support a healthier and more sustainable healthcare workforce, Approved Education Institutions (AEIs) delivering pre-registration nursing programmes can play a pivotal role in embedding self-care ethos and practices into the nursing curricula. Grounded in educational psychology and drawing on insights from related theories, this paper explores barriers to self-care, proposes actionable interventions, and advocates for its integration as a cornerstone of nursing education. Full article

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, perioperative nurses faced extraordinary demands in frontline roles, leading many to leave their positions. This study investigates the factors influencing their decisions to resign or change roles during or after the pandemic, providing insights into systemic, ethical, and emotional contributors to professional attrition. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted at a university hospital in Spain between December 2021 and March 2022. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to analyze the lived experiences of perioperative nurses who worked during the pandemic and subsequently resigned or changed role. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews and analyzed using Atlas.ti (version 22). Ethical issues such as informed consent and participants confidentiality were upheld. Results: Eighteen perioperative nurses participated. Four themes emerged: (1) balancing professional duty and personal limits, (2) the role of workplace culture (emphasizing peer support and managerial neglect), (3) resilience and moral conflict, and (4) the emotional cost of caring. Conclusions: Attrition among perioperative nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic was driven by physical and emotional exhaustion, lack of managerial support, ethical dilemmas, and emotional trauma. Healthcare organizations should implement strategies such as strengthening leadership, providing mental health resources, and creating a supportive work culture to improve staff retention and ensure workforce sustainability in future crises. The clinical implications highlight the need for specific interventions to support the emotional and professional well-being of perioperative nurses, ensuring high quality care and continuity of health services. Full article

The human resources economic implications of nursing burnout amongst nurses working in retirement homes have become a critical concern within the healthcare industry. As the backbone of care provision in these settings, it is crucial to understand the consequences of burnout on the workforce’s well-being and organisational sustainability. This study aims to investigate burnout among nurses working in retirement homes in Slovenia. The reasons for burnout vary across countries and regions, so gathering data specific to this population is essential. Through surveys conducted among 253 nurses and medical technicians, factor analysis revealed three factors for burnout: emotional exhaustion, reduced personal fulfilment, and impersonality. This research aims to pave the way for reducing workplace stress by creating new opportunities for better working conditions. To achieve these goals, executive management in retirement homes should gain proficiency in the four elements of the quality management cycle: planning, execution, evaluation, and continuous improvement. Furthermore, a comparative analysis was conducted to collate the empirical findings with those from Croatia. Full article

It is widely accepted that administrative staff, as important components of a university’s workforce, play a critical role in realizing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The worth of administrative staff is based on their productivity, and this has a significant impact on the viability of universities. Based on the job demands–resources model, this study investigates the antecedents of job burnout among administrative staff from both emotional and interpersonal perspectives, taking into account SDGs 3, 4, and 8. In this paper, a quantitative research method using descriptive and inferential analyses explores the complex interplay between job autonomy, emotional job demands, colleague support, and job burnout, with a particular emphasis on the role of emotion regulation. A questionnaire was answered anonymously by 1009 administrative staff members in China, and the results conclude that job autonomy was negatively associated with job burnout, while emotional job demands were positively linked to burnout. Moreover, leader support emerged as more beneficial to workers than colleague support. Emotion regulation strategies such as reappraisal function as an important personal resource that buffers the negative effects of job demands and enhances job resources, leading to lower levels of burnout. Furthermore, this study examines how the SDGs can be achieved through reducing job burnout. The important implications for university administrative staff and policymakers, as well as the sustainable development of universities, are discussed. Full article

As organizational environment develops, the working environment increases in physical and mental demands. As a result, risk inadvertences could arise, along with organizational emotional and financial challenges. Within their efforts to diminish such risks, organizations strive for developing and training their workforce; a sustainable workforce can only be achieved through cultivating aptitudes and positive attitudes that will lead to organizational but also personal growth. Considered to be an important measuring instrument for social sustainability, workforce sustainability enhances organizational leadership projections and trajectories, along with digitalization initiatives. The aim of the current study is the development of an assessment tool for state and private organizational workforce sustainability, and to study it in relation to leadership and digitalization components. Through a quantitative approach, data was gathered by issuing an online survey that delivered 463 responses. By using structural equation modelling, the authors examined the aims and found that the designed workforce sustainability tool is reliable and valid; as predicted, all the leadership components contribute to organizational stability and a more favorable workforce sustainability development, along with enhancing digital learning. This study stresses the importance for state and private organizations to achieve workforce sustainability, while nurturing and providing the necessary tools for the development of leadership and digital learning. Full article

(1) Background: Practising mindfulness has been suggested in several recent media reports to help employees reduce stress in their effort to balance work and life pressures, especially during the pandemic when they have to work from home. During COVID-19, organisations have also struggled to effectively engage, retain and sustain employees when managing their work remotely. It is uncertain whether there is a close link between mindfulness and sustained workforce engagement. Although data were collected prior to COVID-19, this study contributes to adding new knowledge to this line of research by investigating how the flow-on effect of being mindful and psychological flourishing helps create positive effects on workforce engagement. (2) Methods: Path analysis was run to test the hypothesised relationships among key constructs with a sample of 229 participants. Direct and indirect effects were further tested with organisational mindfulness training program. (3) Results: The findings show that positive emotions gained from being mindful and maintaining a high level of psychological flourishing enhance workforce engagement. Organisational mindfulness training programs moderated the mediating effect of psychological flourishing on the relationship between mindfulness and workforce engagement, in which the indirect effect of mindfulness on workforce engagement via psychological flourishing is stronger when employees participated in mindfulness exercises and training programs. (4) Conclusions: Positive emotions attained from being mindful and experiencing psychological flourishing help sustain workforce engagement. (5) Implication: In order to sustain an engaged workforce, organisations need to implement effective mindfulness training programs that help the workforce broaden and build their personal resources via psychological flourishing and positive emotions, especially in times of facing difficult circumstances and managing uncertainty in challenging circumstances. Full article

The sustainable development of early childhood institutions in aging China calls for the sustainable development of early childhood teachers, which should attend to the balanced development between male and female teachers. Yet this issue has not been adequately investigated in the literature. To fill this research gap, this study explored the gender differences in Chinese early childhood (EC) teachers’ professional identity (PI) and emotional labor strategies. Altogether, 250 teachers (146 female and 104 male, M_age = 30.28 years, SD = 7.81) from Southern China were sampled and surveyed. First, the independent samples t-tests revealed significant gender differences in teachers’ PI, deep acting, and surface acting. Second, the structural equation modelling results demonstrated that PI fully mediated the relationship between teacher educational attainment, years of teaching experience, and natural and deep acting. Third, multigroup analysis confirmed different mediation paths for female and male teachers. These findings suggest that male and female early childhood teachers differed in their sense of PI and use of emotional labor strategies. Therefore, future policymaking efforts should design and implement teacher professional development (PD) programs and teacher support mechanisms catering to male EC teachers’ needs, characteristics, and difficulties in the Chinese EC workforce. Full article

Emergency department healthcare workers are known to face a unique combination of pressures from their careers and work environments regularly. Caring for dying patients and making difficult lifesaving decisions not only continued but also became more prevalent for emergency department healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A growing body of literature revealed that the mental and emotional toll of COVID-19 has been tremendous. However, the burden of COVID-19 on the overall physical health and work–life balance on this group needs to be understood. This study aimed to describe the impact of stress on wellbeing and health across the globe among emergency department healthcare workers. A cross-sectional survey comprising work–family and family–work conflict scale, work–life balance, physical symptoms inventory, Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, satisfaction with job and life, and life change index scale was distributed to a convenience sample through listservs and social media. In total, 287 participants responded, 109 completing all questions. Fatigue was the most common symptom reported to occur daily (28.4%, n = 31), followed by muscle pain (13.8%, n = 15) and backache (11.9%, n = 13). Nurse practitioners reported the highest number of physical symptoms and the highest average scores and counts of stressful life events, while registered nurses indicated the highest work–family conflict levels. Linear regressions showed that stressful life events are significantly associated with both physical symptoms and work–family conflict. Results underscore the need to better support emergency department workers to mitigate the risks associated with occupational stress. Protective organizational policies and increased support strategies may be employed to improve wellbeing and cultivate a more sustainable workforce. Full article

Background: Two disciplines that work in the child welfare arena, social welfare and healthcare, are crucial for addressing families’ and children’s needs in social, emotional, and physical healthcare situations. How child welfare workers are trained and how healthcare teams collaborate with other stakeholders in the child welfare system is crucial in meeting and sustaining the needs of families and children. Methods: We demonstrate two case examples, one focusing on enhanced learning tools through virtual reality (VR) and the other on strengthening collaborations between healthcare teams and the child welfare system. Results: For the VR training tool, 79% of participants indicated they would recommend the VR learning tool as effective in developing skills in the child welfare workforce. In response to the learning collaborative project, child welfare participants reported positive impressions regarding collaborative practices while identifying system-level barriers to implementation. Conclusion: Findings from these two case studies provide insights from which to consider system development for designing and implementing sustainable improvements in child welfare approaches to families and children referred for suspected maltreatment. Full article