The diploma thesis deals with the issue of dying and death within the job of a nurse. Nurses very often see dying and death. Death rate also depends on type of the ward. A healthy person usually does not think about death, but being ill one is uncertain and starts to ask many questions, which may also include questions about dying and death. Meeting a dying person is psychically demanding for the medical staff as well as for the family, friends and the dearest. The medical workers are expected to be professional and empathic. It is a question if the nurses are prepared to face the death and if they can cope with the physical and psychical stress. Long-term excessive psychical stress may result in numerous diseases. A nurse must know how to avoid such negative impacts. The theoretic part of the thesis describes the present status, explains specificities of palliative treatment within intensive care, within care for chronically ill patients and in paediatrics, it specifies attitudes and their functions in connection with difficult life situations. Furthermore, the theoretical part deals with psychical stress imposed on nurses in connection with dying and rules of communication in a multi-disciplinary team within palliative care. There are four objectives of the thesis. The first objective is to find out whether nurses feel ready to meet death after finishing qualification studies. Another objective is to find out whether death rate in the workplace affects psychical stress imposed on the nurses and their attitude to death. The third objective is to find out whether the nurses think that the information and experience gained during studies affected their attitude to death and professional skills of care for dying patients. The research part made use of quantitative research. Data collection was made through anonymous questionnaires. Respondents answered 35 questions. Out of that, 17 questions were closed and 18 questions were semi-closed. The research survey was completed with statistical survey. Nurses, who work in wards with higher risk of death, were contacted. We have made up four hypotheses. H1: Nurses? attitude to death depends on the level of education was not confirmed. The results of research and statistic survey showed that there is no difference in attitude in connection with the level of education reached. H2: Nurses? attitude to death depends on experience with death in personal life was not confirmed either. The respondents? answer showed that their attitude to death is mostly influences by experienced acquired in practice. H3: Death rate reduces psychical stress of nurses, was confimed. The respondents said they had still the same feelings and at most they answered that they did not feel anything, or they did not think about their feelings and they consider the death to be a part of their occupation. H4: Subjective readiness of nurses to meet death does not depend on finishing of qualification studies, but it depends on exeprience acquired in practice. The last hypothesis was confirmed by research and statistic survey, as well. The research and tests of hypothesis have revealed that sufficient attention has not been paid to the issue of care for dying patients within studies. Nurses acquire their experience mostly in practice. Furthermore, the survey showed that it is an important thing to teach the nurses to communicate effectively and to feel empathy. The conclusion, that nurses are more stressed with conflicts at the workplace, bad inter-personnel relationships, low wages than with care for dying patients, is alarming . Thus the labour force is wasted unnecessarily and it is obvious that the occupation of a nurse has not been appreciated properly, yet. Such factors influence quality of the work done and may cause the burn-out syndrome.

A presente pesquisa teve por objetivo geral identificar e analisar estratégias de enfrentamento do estresse e da síndrome de burnout utilizadas por professores do Campus Pato Branco da UTFPR. Os objetivos específicos foram: Identificar a ocorrência e os níveis de estresse e da síndrome de burnout em professores do Campus Pato Branco da UTFPR; identificar agentes estressores relatados pelos participantes da pesquisa e identificar estratégias de enfrentamento do estresse e da síndrome de burnout utilizadas pelos participantes da pesquisa. Os dados foram coletados mediante a utilização do Inventário de Sintomas de Stress para Adultos de Lipp (ISSL), do Malasch Burnout Inventory (MBI - ED), de um Questionário Estruturado e Entrevista. Participaram do estudo 69 professores sendo 58% do sexo masculino e 42% do sexo feminino. A idade variou entre 28 e 67 anos e a experiência docente entre 3 e 39 anos. Os resultados apontam a existência de algum grau de estresse em 43,48% da amostra, entre docentes de ambos os sexos. O sofrimento psicológico pelo estresse é igualmente distribuído entre homens e mulheres, porém, o sofrimento físico é muito mais evidenciado neles do que nelas. Também foram encontrados níveis preocupantes de burnout. Os resultados obtidos apontam que 26,09% da amostra não apresentaram alteração em qualquer das três dimensões avaliadas pelo MBI. Já dentre os demais, 37,68% apresentaram alteração em uma das três dimensões do burnout e 36,23% em duas ou nas três dimensões. Foram encontrados níveis alarmantes de exaustão emocional, situação apresentada por 47,82% da amostra, de despersonalização em 26,08% da amostra, e de reduzida realização pessoal no trabalho em 50,72% da amostra. Os três tipos de estratégias de enfrentamento mais utilizadas pelos participantes são suporte familiar, alimentação adequada e exercício físico regular, repouso e lazer. Conclui-se, portanto, que além dos casos já identificados com diagnóstico positivo para a síndrome de burnout, 13% da amostra, a grande maioria da população pesquisada encontra-se em processo de adoecimento. Por fim, considerando os altos níveis de estresse e de burnout encontrados, os resultados evidenciaram que somente estratégias individuais de enfrentamento não estão sendo suficientes para evitar os problemas na instituição pesquisada. / The present research aimed to identify and analyze strategies for coping with stress and burnout syndrome used by teachers at the Pato Branco Campus of UTFPR. The specific objectives were: To identify the occurrence and levels of stress and burnout syndrome in professors of the Pato Branco Campus of UTFPR; identify stressors reported by the research participants, and identify coping strategies for stress and burnout syndrome used by the research participants. Data were collected using the Lipp Adult Stress Symptom Inventory (ISSL), the Malasch Burnout Inventory (MBI - ED), a Structured Questionnaire and Interview. Sixty-one teachers participated in the study, 58% male and 42% female. The age ranged from 28 to 67 years and the teaching experience between 3 and 39 years. The results point to the existence of some degree of stress in 43.48% of the sample, between teachers of both sexes. Stress psychological distress is equally distributed between men and women, but physical suffering is much more evident in them than in them. Alarming levels of burnout were also found. The results obtained indicate that 26.09% of the sample did not present alteration in any of the three dimensions evaluated by MBI. Among the others, 37.68% presented alterations in one of the three dimensions of burnout and 36.23% in two or three dimensions. Alarming levels of emotional exhaustion were found in 47.82% of the sample, 26.08% in the sample, and 50.72% in the sample. The three types of coping strategies most used by participants are family support, adequate food and regular exercise, rest and leisure. It is concluded, therefore, that in addition to the cases already identified with a positive diagnosis for the burnout syndrome, 13% of the sample, the great majority of the researched population is in the process of becoming ill. Finally, considering the high levels of stress and burnout found, the results showed that only individual coping strategies are not enough to avoid the problems in the research institution.

The thesis deals with the description of the psychological and spiritual support for the members of the police force. Its basis is the definition of the police force as the service to the public while the policeman is perceived as both the representative of the state force and the human being. In the part dealing with the professional ethics one points out to the usefulness of the ethical codex for a policeman as a possible inspiration for one's responsibility in the role of a policeman.Next, negative phenomena influencing a policeman are described, such as stress, a traumatic event,crisis,and a burn-out syndrom. The thesis considers the needs of the man linked to the needs of a policeman proper. Based on the information collected it then deals with the psychological and spiritual support. The psychological support in the police force has got a certain framework defined in the form of a crisis intervention, a psychological advisory service and a posttraumatic intervention care. A spiritual support has no specific concept defined. A priest has his role in posttraumatic intervention teams only. Based on the research carried out and on the literature available the possibility is outlined for the provision of not only psychological but also for the spiritual support.

The Burnout Syndrome in teachers is a topic that has been getting attention since it is a public health problem related to work. The main objective of this study is to verify the presence of the burnout syndrome in the physical education teachers of the public institutions of Sergipe. Being a State where sports are predominantly, school taught teachers play a decisive role in local sports environment, ranging from the initial training of the athlete to coaching during the competitions. This research is in a cross-sectional study of descriptive and quantitative approach, where 164 graduates participated teachers, of both sexes, without delimitation of age, and engaged in physical education in public schools of Sergipe. For data collection, two evaluation methods were used: a socio-demographic questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory - MBI questionnaire with 22 closed questions on a Linkert scale 0-6. The sample selection was stratified random, obeying a proportionality in the 10 regional offices of the State of Sergipe, which enabled a process of selection by conglomerates. Data analysis was conducted in stages: The first consisted in descriptive data to characterize the sample and identify the scores of burnout syndrome and the evaluation of the distribution using the Kolmogorov - Smirnov test. The second phase involved calculating the Cronbach´s alpha coefficient in order to test the internal consistency of the MBI. In the third phase, we compared the data obtained between sociodemographic variables: gender, marital status, age, time of exercise of profession, working hours and other employment with the three dimensions of the MBI, using nonparametric tests of Mann - Whitney and Kruskal - Wallis. For processing and analysis of the responses, we used SPSS for Windows, version 20.0. Statistical significance was set at 5 % (p . 0.05). The results were that physical education teachers of state schools Sergipe do not show extreme cases of burnout, but the identifiers found in three dimensions suggest a possible early development of the installation process of the syndrome, since the indices intermediate scores were high in all three dimensions: depersonalization (84.2%); Emotional exhaustion (78.4%) and professional fulfillment (67.9%). / A Sindrome de Burnout em professores e um tema que vem chamando atencao por se tratar de um problema de saude publica, relacionado ao trabalho. O objetivo principal deste estudo e verificar a presenca da Sindrome de Burnout em professores de educacao fisica da rede publica estadual de Sergipe. Sendo um Estado em que o esporte e predominantemente escolar, os professores de educacao fisica exercem um papel decisivo no ambiente esportivo local, que vai desde a formacao inicial do atleta, ate a acao como tecnico durante as competicoes. Esta pesquisa trata-se de um estudo transversal, de carater descritivo e com abordagem quantitativa, onde participaram 164 professores, de ambos os sexos, sem delimitacao de faixa etaria, graduados em educacao fisica e atuantes em escolas publicas estaduais de Sergipe. Para a coleta de dados, foram utilizados dois instrumentos de avaliacao: um questionario socio-demografico e o Maslach Burnout Inventory-MBI, questionario com 22 questoes fechadas em uma escala Linkert de 0 a 6. A selecao da amostra foi aleatoria estratificada, obedecendo a uma proporcionalidade nas 10 diretorias regionais do Estado de Sergipe o que possibilitou um processo de selecao por conglomerados. A analise dos dados foi realizada em fases: A primeira consistiu na avaliacao descritiva dos dados para caracterizar a amostra e identificar os escores da Sindrome de Burnout e na avaliacao da distribuicao, utilizando o teste de Kolmogorov-Smirnov. Na segunda fase se calculou o coeficiente de Alfa de Cronbach no intuito de testar a consistencia interna do MBI. Na terceira fase se comparou os dados obtidos entre as variaveis sociodemograficas: sexo, estado civil, idade, tempo de exercicio da profissao, carga horaria e outro vinculo empregaticio, com as tres dimensoes do MBI, utilizando-se dos testes nao parametricos Mann- Whitney e Kruskal-Wallis. Para o processamento e analises das respostas se utilizou o programa estatistico SPSS para Windows, versao 20.0. A significancia estatistica foi estipulada em 5% (p.0,05). Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que os professores de educacao fisica da rede estadual de ensino de Sergipe nao apresentam casos extremos de Burnout, porem os identificadores encontrados nas tres dimensoes apontam para um possivel inicio de desenvolvimento do processo de instalacao da sindrome, uma vez que os indices intermediarios de pontuacao foram elevados nas tres dimensoes: Despersonalizacao (84,2%); Exaustao Emocional (78,4%) e Realizacao profissional (67,9%).

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Cette recherche a été développée sur le terrain dans une école spécialisée pour les élèves diagnostiqués du syndrome autistique : A Better Chance School, en Californie. Ces travaux s’appuient sur les fondements théoriques des concepts d’intelligence Emotionnelle, et de Capital Emotionnel©. Ces travaux portent sur les différences possibles de compétences entre les personnels éducatifs travaillant auprès d’élèves autistes qui perdurent et ceux qui quittent après quelques mois. Les résultats de l’analyse quantitative de données basées sur les tests d’intelligence émotionnelle à partir des batteries de test EQ Map® permettent de comparer les niveaux de compétences émotionnelles entre le personnel pérenne et le personnel non pérenne à l’ABC School. Les tests statistiques t-test pratiqués à partir du programme stata® démontrent une différence significative des scores d’intelligence émotionnelle et révèlent des scores supérieurs pour les éducateurs et enseignants pérennes par comparaison aux enseignants et éducateurs non pérennes. Le post test intra-groupe, effectué plusieurs mois plus tard sur la population d’éducateurs pérennes, à permis de montrer une différence significative pour une grande majorité des catégories d’échelles d’intelligence émotionnelle. Précisément, les catégories pour lesquelles il y a eu un développement significatif au cours des 18 mois d’expérience à ABC School sont les suivantes : Faculté de force émotionnelle mentale personnelle, créativité, compassion, résilience, connexion interpersonnelle, intégration de soi, compréhension émotionnelle d’autrui, quotient relationnel. / This research was developed from the particular field work of a specialized school for students with autism at A Better Chance School in California. This Research was conducted through the framework of Emotional Intelligence Theories and the Emotional Capital© concept. This research targets the possible differences in emotional capital between sustainable educators and non sustainable educators working with students with autism. The results from quantitative data analysis based on the emotional Intelligence test EQ Map® allow to compare the level of emotional competencies between sustainable and non sustainable employees at ABC School. The statistical t-test performed with the program Stata® shows a significant difference and higher EQ scores for sustainable educators compared to non sustainable educators. The post test performed 18 months later on sustainable educators revealed a significant difference for a majority of scales on emotional intelligence. Precisely, the categories where the increase was significant after 18 months working at ABC school are the following ones : Mental and emotional personal strength abilities, creativity, compassion, resilience, connection interpersonal connection, integrated self, emotional awareness of others, relational quotient.

The Master´s thesis „Stress evaluation, coping and reduction” deals with a very up-to-date subject of employees stress. It analyzes stress types, development, symptoms and influence on health and work results of employees. It also concentrates on factors which evoke the stress, their identification and elimination in corporate environment. The first part of my thesis focuses on theoretical analysis of the above-mentioned issues. Second, practical part deals with the process of finding and evaluting stress factors in a logistic company and its employees. Final part focuses on project of elimination of stress and its factors in the company.

MPH / Department of Public Health / The healthcare profession has emerged as one of the professions that is mostly prone to burnout. Burnout is a major problem affecting healthcare professionals nationwide and abroad. When employees experience burnout, it becomes difficult to remain productive at work since this starts to impact negatively on their occupational functioning. Although studies have been done on burnout, very little is known about factors that influence burnout among healthcare professionals. Knowledge around the concept of burnout and accompanying risk factors is vital for early detection and intervention. The study aimed to explore on the factors that influence burnout among healthcare professionals at selected hospitals in Ehlanzeni District, South Africa. A qualitative research approach using phenomenological research design was used for the study. A sample was chosen from the target population by means of convenient sampling. The total number of participants was determined by a rapid assessment test which was used to screen burnout among the professionals. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview guide. The data collected was analyzed using thematic content analysis. The findings show that burnout is influenced by a number of different factors (workload, financial problems, emotional exhaustion, poor working relationships, lack of social support, and experience/number of years working at the hospital and personality type. In addition, most healthcare professionals are vulnerable to burnout while some are experiencing it. Also, there are currently no adequate strategies/initiatives put in place to prevent burnout. / NRF

MPH / Department of Public Health / Introduction: Students in universities are exposed to various stressors which affect them to progress in their studies. The sources of stress are varied and ranging from challenges resulting from family background and history, the present circumstances and the uncertain future. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore factors that contribute to stress among students at a selected university in rural South Africa. Method: This research employed a qualitative descriptive approach using an explorative design to explore the factors contributing to stress among students at a selected university in South Africa. The study utilised convenience sampling to select participants who met the criteria of inclusion and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Informed consent, confidentiality, anonymity, privacy and protect participants from being harmed were observed in the study. Data was analysed using Tesch method. Results: The following themes were derived from data analysis: Personal, relationship environmental, academic factors. Recommendations: Students specific health promotion programmes should be introduced to raise awareness about stress and management of it. Conclusions: The study concludes that students experience high levels of stress during their studies therefore it is important for the university health authorities to introduce stress management programs for students. / NRF

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Background: The heavy workload of hospital nurses is a major problem globally. Nurses are experiencing higher workloads than ever before due to four main reasons, increased demand for nurses, inadequate appointment of new nurses, reduced staffing and increased overtime and reduction in patient length of stay. It is necessary for South Africa to find ways to reduce nursing workload and improve patient safety particularly in rural areas, to understand these effects of nursing workload on patient safety, the study was conducted with professional nurses from selected hospitals in Vhembe district, Limpopo Province. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine and to assess the effects of nurses‘ workloads on patient safety in the selected public hospitals, Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Methodology: Quantitative, exploratory descriptive design was adopted. Self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection from the sampled hospitals in Vhembe district. Hospitals were sampled based on the statistics of admitted patients in medical and surgical wards. Target population were professional nurses with at least two years working in the sampled wards. Ethical considerations were maintained. Results: There are several important consequences of high nursing workload. Findings show that a heavy nursing workload adversely affects patient safety. The study also shows that majority 80 (79.0%) of the respondents were overloaded by nursing responsibilities and this negatively affects nursing job satisfaction. As many as 55 (54.4%) indicated that such v workload contributes to high turnover and the nursing shortage. In addition to the higher patient acuity, work system factors and expectations also contribute to the nurses‘ workload: nurses are expected to perform non-professional tasks such as delivering and retrieving food trays; housekeeping duties; transporting patients; and ordering, coordinating, or performing ancillary services Conclusion: Nursing workload is affected by staffing levels and the patients‘ conditions, but also by the design of the nurses‘ work system. The study showed that a work situation above the assumed optimal level increases the risk for adverse events and patient mortality. However, the resources for nursing staff are limited in all public hospitals where the study focused. Professional nurses, therefore, must use available resources in the most optimal way. The study also recommended that there should be a creation of the nursing posts and the filling of all vacant positions in South Africa. Continuity of in-service training to empower professional nurses on patient safety was emphasised. / NRF