<p>The present thesis is based on four empirical studies concerning risk factors related to musculoskeletal pain (MSP), disability, and sick leave among three non-clinical samples of health care staff. Initially, in Study I, cognitive, behavioural and environmental factors related to MSP of nurses' aides<b> </b>were explored. An experimental design including baseline, intervention and follow-ups among 29 nurses' aides<b> </b>working in a home for the elderly was used to evaluate effects of a workplace intervention based on cognitive behaviour (CB)- and conventional, symptom reduction principles. In Study II, a cross-sectional and correlational design was applied. A self-administered questionnaire was used to describe and investigate the relationship between risk factors and development of persistent pain, sick leave and long sick leave among 914 municipal health care staff. In Study III and IV, a longitudinal design was used among 200 registered nurses (RN) working in a county hospital to describe and predict pain, disability and sick leave. Data collection involved two self-administered questionnaires covering: 1) work and personal factors, pain, disability and sick leave at baseline and 2) valued life dimensions at baseline. The results showed that MSP was common among the staff. Study I showed positive effects among nurses' aides<b> </b>receiving the CB principles related to MSP compared with nurses' aides receiving the conventional principles. In Study II, pain severity and expectations to be working in 6 months were associated with persistent MSP and sick leave, respectively. In Study III, pain, disability and sick leave at baseline were the strongest predictors of pain, disability and sick leave at the three-year follow-up. In Study IV, the findings support the notion that individual values in different life domains are possible predictors of pain and disability. </p>

The present thesis is based on four empirical studies concerning risk factors related to musculoskeletal pain (MSP), disability, and sick leave among three non-clinical samples of health care staff. Initially, in Study I, cognitive, behavioural and environmental factors related to MSP of nurses' aides<b> </b>were explored. An experimental design including baseline, intervention and follow-ups among 29 nurses' aides<b> </b>working in a home for the elderly was used to evaluate effects of a workplace intervention based on cognitive behaviour (CB)- and conventional, symptom reduction principles. In Study II, a cross-sectional and correlational design was applied. A self-administered questionnaire was used to describe and investigate the relationship between risk factors and development of persistent pain, sick leave and long sick leave among 914 municipal health care staff. In Study III and IV, a longitudinal design was used among 200 registered nurses (RN) working in a county hospital to describe and predict pain, disability and sick leave. Data collection involved two self-administered questionnaires covering: 1) work and personal factors, pain, disability and sick leave at baseline and 2) valued life dimensions at baseline. The results showed that MSP was common among the staff. Study I showed positive effects among nurses' aides<b> </b>receiving the CB principles related to MSP compared with nurses' aides receiving the conventional principles. In Study II, pain severity and expectations to be working in 6 months were associated with persistent MSP and sick leave, respectively. In Study III, pain, disability and sick leave at baseline were the strongest predictors of pain, disability and sick leave at the three-year follow-up. In Study IV, the findings support the notion that individual values in different life domains are possible predictors of pain and disability.

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of nursing auxiliaries towards health care services against their scope of practice. Nursing auxiliaries practising within the Elim, Letaba, Malamulele, Nkhensani, Shiluvana and Tintswalo hospitals in the Gazankulu Health Administration, in the Northern Transvaal Province, constituted the target population. The findings revealed that nursing auxiliaries are not functioning strictly according to their scope of practice. They are an essential component of nursing services in Gazankulu by rendering a major contribution towards health care services in fulfilling their scope of practice-role. Apart from their prescribed practice-role, they are also engaged in activities that should be performed by enrolled and professional nurses as well as doctors and general assistants. There appears to be a need for education for all categories of nursing staff regarding the scope of practice of nursing auxiliaries for improving the effective utilisation of this category of nursing personnel / M.A. (Nursing Science) / Health Studies

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of nursing auxiliaries towards health care services against their scope of practice. Nursing auxiliaries practising within the Elim, Letaba, Malamulele, Nkhensani, Shiluvana and Tintswalo hospitals in the Gazankulu Health Administration, in the Northern Transvaal Province, constituted the target population. The findings revealed that nursing auxiliaries are not functioning strictly according to their scope of practice. They are an essential component of nursing services in Gazankulu by rendering a major contribution towards health care services in fulfilling their scope of practice-role. Apart from their prescribed practice-role, they are also engaged in activities that should be performed by enrolled and professional nurses as well as doctors and general assistants. There appears to be a need for education for all categories of nursing staff regarding the scope of practice of nursing auxiliaries for improving the effective utilisation of this category of nursing personnel / M.A. (Nursing Science) / Health Studies

This research provides a feminist perspective on the lowest paid sector of the United States long-term care industry, Certified Nursing Assistants. This research adds to current feminist scholarship on the modern professional caregiving industry by focusing on the perspective of the workers. As the population of older adults requiring care is expected to increase over the coming decades, the demand for paid caregivers will increase as well. Historically, care work was an expected duty done freely by the women of the family, but today much of the vital intimate caring labor is relegated to paid caregivers. I examine how alternative social, political and economic frameworks can transform United States society’s attitude towards the increasingly relevant issue of caring labor. I argue that incorporating a feminist perspective will be helpful in developing a sustainable model for caring labor that acknowledges the dignity of both patients and their caregivers. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Aim The aim of this study was to describe ancillary health care workers’ perceptions of the Ancillary Health Care Learnership programme, and their current employment status within the health care sector. Methods A non-experimental cross sectional survey was used that incorporated complementary mixed method data collection (Balnaves & Caputi, 2001; Polit & Beck, 2010). Quantitative data collected during the first phase, a telephonic interview assisted self-report questionnaire was used to inform semi structured focus group interviews that took place during the second phase to obtain richer descriptions and explore response and results of the phase 1 cross sectional survey (Bell, 2005). A Convenience sample of ninety two (n=92) was achieved for the telephonic interview assisted self- report questionnaire, and was substantially lower that the number of potential participants (N=200). Purposive sampling was used to obtain fifteen (N=15) potential key informant participants, a final sample of nine (n=9) achieved for the focus group interviews. Results The research revealed that majority (69%) of participants had their expectations of the course met. Subjects such as agriculture and business plan were perceived as not valuable and participants recommended that these be removed from the course. Computer course information was seen as and needed addition in order to bridge the skills gap and improve the opportunities for employment.Despite particpants perceptions of the course being met, expectations regarding emplyment were not. Employment rates were low, specifically within the health care sector. Conclusion and Recommendations The Ancillary Health Care Programme has not assisted the graduates in gaining employment. The review of the Ancillary Health Care Programme and some of the unit standards is one of the recommended options that can be done to improve the employment opportunities. / Theses (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2014.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:47:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PetalaTCOS_DISSERT.pdf: 3029424 bytes, checksum: 7f4d8e22f4b1bd2dfdeb31b4502e88e7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-16 / This study aimed to understand the typical ideal of the nursing technician about the systematization of nursing care in the light of the theoretical framework of Alfred Schutz. It is a comprehensive phenomenological research, using the theoretical framework of Alfred Schutz. For the unveiling of the phenomenon (the typical ideal of the nursing technician about the systematization of nursing care), the search process was configured from the proposed guiding principles for a research methodology based on the work itself of Schutz held by Zeferino (2010) in his PhD. For data collection, we used the focus group technique, counting on the collaboration of thirteen practical nurses working in a university hospital in Rio Grande do Norte, who responded positively to the inclusion criteria: working in the study hospital, performing care direct to patients. Forty-four subjects showed interest in participating, being held a draw for selection of the research sample, consisting of 14 professionals, one of whom did not attend the gathering of data collection. The focus group, entitled "What I think about the systematization of nursing care", took place on February 15th, 2013, totaling 101 minutes. It was performed according to the Experiential Education Humanescent using building posters as projective technique, from the key question: "What is the systematization of nursing care for you?". In order to understand some of the biographical situation of the participants, a questionnaire was administered to study participants. From the agreement of the subjects, the focus group was recorded and photographed with the cooperation of one reporter and two other employees. We used Microsoft Word 2010 to perform the transcript of the meeting and Microsoft Excel 2010 for synthesizing the results via a spreadsheet. The study followed the ethical and legal principles that govern scientific research on humans, recommended in Resolution n? 196/96, it was approved by Opinion Embodied Ethics Committee in Research of UFRN (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte), n? 98 424, of August 31th, 2012, CAAE No. 05906912.0.0000.5537. The analysis of the nursing staff speeches, along with the contemplation of their posters and their written descriptions, allowed from the guiding principles of Zeferino (2010), in light of the reference of Alfred Schutz, unveiling the typical ideal of nursing technicians about the systematization of nursing care, passing four themes: typing of the concept of systematization of nursing care; benefits, which resulted in the reasons to believe in the positivity of this working tool; experienced problems, revealing the world of everyday life of nursing professionals, and possibilities for improvement. It was concluded that the nursing technicians are unaware of the systematization of nursing care. However, they typify a very positive perception about the same, especially with regard to improvements that may foster care / Objetivou-se compreender o t?pico ideal do t?cnico de enfermagem acerca da sistematiza??o da assist?ncia de enfermagem, ? luz do referencial te?rico de Alfred Schutz. Trata-se de uma investiga??o fenomenol?gica compreensiva, utilizando o referencial te?rico de Alfred Schutz. Para o desvelamento do fen?meno (o t?pico ideal do t?cnico de enfermagem acerca da sistematiza??o da assist?ncia de Enfermagem), o processo de pesquisa configurou-se a partir da proposta de princ?pios orientadores de uma metodologia de pesquisa com base na pr?pria obra de Schutz, realizada por Zeferino (2010), em seu doutoramento. Para coleta de dados, utilizou-se a t?cnica do grupo focal, com a colabora??o de treze t?cnicos de enfermagem atuantes em um hospital universit?rio norte-riograndense, que responderam positivamente ao crit?rio de inclus?o: atuar no hospital de estudo e realizar cuidados assistenciais diretos aos pacientes. Quarenta e quatro sujeitos demonstraram interesse em participar, sendo realizado um sorteio para sele??o da amostra da pesquisa, composta por 14 profissionais, dos quais um n?o compareceu ao encontro de coleta de dados. O grupo focal, intitulado O que eu penso acerca da sistematiza??o da assist?ncia de enfermagem , aconteceu no dia 15 de fevereiro de 2013, totalizando 101 minutos. Foi realizado de acordo com a Pedagogia Vivencial Humanescente, utilizando a constru??o de cartazes como t?cnica projetiva, a partir da quest?o chave: O que ? sistematiza??o da assist?ncia de enfermagem para voc?? . A fim de compreender um pouco da situa??o biogr?fica dos participantes, foi aplicado um question?rio aos participantes. A partir da concord?ncia dos sujeitos, o grupo focal foi gravado e fotografado, contando com a coopera??o de um relator e de dois outros colaboradores. Foi utilizado o Microsoft Word 2010 para a realiza??o da transcri??o do encontro e o Microsoft Excel 2010 para sintetiza??o dos resultados por meio de uma planilha. O estudo seguiu os princ?pios ?ticos e legais que regem a pesquisa cient?fica em seres humanos, preconizados na Resolu??o n? 196/96, e foi aprovado pelo Parecer Consubstanciado do Comit? de ?tica em Pesquisa da UFRN, n? 98.424, de 31 de agosto de 2012, CAAE n? 05906912.0.0000.5537. A an?lise das falas dos t?cnicos de enfermagem, juntamente com a contempla??o de seus cartazes e de suas descri??es escritas, permitiu, a partir dos princ?pios orientadores de Zeferino (2010), ? luz do referencial de Alfred Schutz, desvelar o t?pico ideal dos t?cnicos de enfermagem acerca da sistematiza??o da assist?ncia de enfermagem, perpassando quatro eixos tem?ticos: tipifica??o do conceito da sistematiza??o da assist?ncia de enfermagem; benef?cios, que se traduziram nos motivos-para acreditar na positividade dessa ferramenta de trabalho; problemas vivenciados, reveladores do mundo vida cotidiano dos profissionais de enfermagem; e possibilidades de melhoria. Concluiu-se que o t?cnico de enfermagem t?pico ? um sujeito cr?tico e reflexivo, que, apesar de ter tido uma forma??o acad?mica que negligenciou os aspectos te?ricos essenciais concernentes ? sistematiza??o da assist?ncia de enfermagem, possui uma situa??o biogr?fica que o faz acreditar na positividade da sistematiza??o da assist?ncia de enfermagem

The nursing home industry has been saturated for decades with culture change initiatives in an effort to improve resident quality of care. The direct care worker (DCW) is considered a critical position to achieving nursing facility quality improvements. Understanding what leads to job satisfaction for DCWs could result in improved resident care. The relationship DCWs have with their direct supervisor or upper-level manager can impact employee satisfaction. The purpose of this research is to identify factors that are associated with DCWs satisfaction with supervisor and management support. Data was obtained from 307 DCWs who were employed at 11 North Texas nursing homes. It was expected that factors affecting satisfaction with direct supervision and upper-level management would differ. In fact, the study found that the antecedents for employee satisfaction with supervisor support were participative decision-making/empowerment, age, information exchange and feedback. Furthermore, participative decision-making/empowerment, perceived competence, staffing, information exchange and feedback were found to affect direct care workers' satisfaction with manager support. In conclusion, this research provides a starting point towards a more holistic view of employee satisfaction with supervisor support by considering the preceding factors and its subsequent effects.