The objective of this research study was to investigate teachers’ understanding and perceptions of teacher absenteeism. A sample of principals, deputy principals, HODs, teachers, support staff and union members from seven different schools in Middelburg in the Nkangala District of the Mpumalanga Department of Basic Education participated in the investigation. The study was motivated by the escalating teacher absenteeism being experienced within the Mpumalanga Department of Basic Education. The abuse of teacher leave, which takes the form of various leave privileges, is being accelerated primarily by the unacceptably high occurrence of unauthorised absence on the part of teachers at schools. These unauthorised absences includes arriving in class late and leaving class before time, late arrival and early departure from school, poor time management and poor monitoring of absenteeism by the SMTs at schools. The study adopted a qualitative research approach in the collection and analysis of the data with interviews and document analysis being used in order to collect the required data. The study utilises the conceptual lens of transactional stress model and occupational stress model in order to analyse the findings and identify the various stress factors that impact on teacher absenteeism in South Africa. It concludes that the causes of teacher absenteeism are being ascribed to the following: teachers are highly stressed by their own personal lack of financial management, family problems and their ever-increasing responsibilities and the curriculum changes being imposed on them. The primary value of this research investigation, therefore, lies in the belief that the study findings may help to shape the policies that direct the management of leave of absence in the department of education while simultaneously trying to uproot the perceptual misunderstandings about teacher absenteeism. It is essential that suitable policies be formulated to obviate the underlying causes of teacher absenteeism while identifying the stressors that promote teacher absenteeism and trying to provide solutions that will reduce the escalating absence of teachers at school. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Bakgrund: Arbetsrelaterad stress är ett globalt hälsoproblem som återfinns inom sjuksköterskeprofessionen likväl som många andra yrken. Individer som får utstå bestående aktivering av kroppens stressrespons löper en ökad risk att drabbas av fysisk och psykisk ohälsa samt på längre sikt risk för förtidig död. I sjuksköterskeyrket är det inte bara sjuksköterskan som påverkas av den arbetsrelaterade stressen, forskning har till exempel visat på ett samband mellan hög arbetsbelastning för sjuksköterskor och sämre patientsäkerhet. I detta sammanhang är Antonovskys teori om känsla av sammanhang användbar då den visat sig kunna öka personers resiliens mot stress. Syfte: Syftet med den här litteraturstudien var att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av arbetsrelaterad stress. Metod: En litteraturstudie med beskrivande design. Totalt tolv vetenskapliga artiklar inkluderades varav åtta med kvalitativ ansats och fyra med kvantitativ ansats. Artiklarna söktes i databaserna CINAHL och Medline via PubMed. Huvudresultat: Sjuksköterskor runt om i världen har många erfarenheter av arbetsrelaterad stress. Hög arbetsbelastning var den mest framträdande stressorn och återkom i alla inkluderade studier. Den organisatoriska strukturen, exempelvis obalans mellan antal sjuksköterskor och antal patienter fick sjuksköterskor att uppleva stress. Emotionellt och moraliskt betungande vårdsituationer bidrog till sjuksköterskors upplevelse av “compassion fatigue” och “moral distress”. Otillfredsställande arbetsmiljö, interaktioner och relationer med patienter, anhöriga, läkare och andra sjuksköterskor resulterade i upplevelsen av stress för sjuksköterskor. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskor upplever många typer av arbetsrelaterad stress. Arbetsrelaterad stress för sjuksköterskor är ett globalt problem och sjuksköterskor står inför utmaningar med att upprätthålla kvaliteten på omvårdnaden och patientsäkerheten till följd av detta. Det behövs en omprioritering av den offentliga resursfördelningen för att värna om sjuksköterskors hälsa och avsikt att stanna inom professionen – något som gagnar alla i samhället. / Background: Occupational stress is a global health problem that exists within the nurse profession as well as within many other occupations. Individuals who suffer continuous activation of the body’s stress response are subjected to an increased risk of physical and mental disease and - in the long term perspective - increased risk of an early death. When it comes to the nurse occupation, it isn’t just the nurse who is affected by occupational stress. Research has shown, for example, that there is a correlation between high workload for nurses and a lower patient safety. In this context Antonovsky’s theory about sense of coherence is useful as it has been known to increase a person's resilience towards stress. Aim: The aim of this literature review was to describe nurses experiences of occupational stress. Method: A literature review with a descriptive design. Twelve scientific articles were included in total. Eight articles had a qualitative approach and four had a quantitative approach. The articles were searched for in the databases CINAHL and Medline via PubMed. Main findings: Nurses experienced that occupational stress was a common phenomenon. High workload was the most prominent aspect of stress experienced by nurses, one that reappeared in all the included studies. Stressors caused by organizational structure, for example imbalance in nurse/patient ratio, caused nurses to feel stressed. Emotionally and morally burdensome care situations contributed to nurses experiences of compassion fatigue and moral distress. Unsatisfying relations to doctors, patients and other nurses was a job stress perceived by nurses. Conclusion: Nurses experience many types of occupational stress. Occupational stress is a problem for nurses globally and nurses face challenges with upkeeping the quality of care and patient safety thereby. There is a need to reprioritize the distribution of resources in the public community in order to ensure nurses’ wellbeing and intent to stay within the profession – which lies in the interest of the society.

Bakgrund: Arbetsrelaterad stress är en faktor som kan utlösas inom arbetet, då arbetsplatsen inte har rätt förutsättningar för vårdpersonalen. Detta är vanligt inom akutsjukvården relaterat till sjuksköterskans omvårdnadsansvar, vilket motiverar vikten av att identifiera tillvägagångssätt för att hantera detta.    Syfte: Att beskriva hur sjuksköterskor inom akutsjukvården upplever arbetsrelaterad stress och hur det hanteras.  Metod: En allmän litteraturöversikt utformades och data analyserades utifrån en tematisk analys av tio originalartiklar med kvalitativ ansats.  Resultat: Resultatet redogör kring sjuksköterskans upplevelser av stress och hantering av detta då två teman utformades; upplevelser samt strategier. Kategorier som formulerades var arbetsbelastning, hälsokonsekvenser, känslomässiga upplevelser, interprofessionellt teamarbete, god arbetsmiljö och motivation inom arbetsgruppen.   Slutsatser: Sjuksköterskan påverkas av arbetsrelaterad stress till följd av olika faktorer som exempelvis överbeläggning av patienter och tidsbrist. Detta kan hanteras utifrån problemfokuserade strategier vilket underlättar det dagliga arbetet inom akutsjukvården.   Implikationer: Författarna rekommenderar vidare forskning med avseende för att främja sjuksköterskans hälsa och en säker vård. / Background: Occupational stress is a factor that can be triggered within the work, as the workplace does not have the right conditions for the care staff. This is common in emergency care related to the nurse's responsibility, which justifies the importance of identifying approaches to dealing with this issue. Aim: To describe how nurses in emergency care experience occupational stress and how it handles.  Method: A general literature review was designed and data were analyzed based on a thematic analysis of ten original articles with a qualitative approach. Results: The results report the nurse's impact of stress and management of this where two themes were formulated; experiences and strategies. Categories that were formulated where workload, health consequences, emotional experiences, interprofessional teamwork, good work environment and motivation within the work group. Conclusion: The nurse is affected by occupational stress as a result of various factors such as overcrowding of patients and lack of time. This can be handled based on problem-focused strategies, which facilitates the daily work in the emergency care. Implications: The authors further recommend research with regards to promoting the health of nurses and safe care.

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskor upplever i hög grad stress i sitt arbete, vilket leder till konsekvenser för organisationen, sjuksköterskans egen hälsa samt för patientsäkerheten. Syfte: Syfte med denna litteraturstudie var att sammanställa hur arbetsrelaterad stress hos sjuksköterskor skulle kunna minskas. Metod: Denna studie hade utformningen av en beskrivande litteraturstudie där 12 artiklar analyserats. Huvudresultat: Flertalet interventioner och stressreducerande program har prövats för att öka sjuksköterskornas förmåga att hantera arbetsrelaterad stress, dvs att utveckla copingstrategier. Återhämtning i form av fysisk aktivitet, sociala kontakter, aktiviteter och stöd, samt olika slags behandlingar som djurassisterad terapi, öronakupunktur, lavendelolja, massage och raster visade sig bidra till en minskad känsla av stress hos sjuksköterskorna. Slutligen hade organisationen och ledningens betydelse visat sig vara viktig när det kommer till att minska stress hos sjuksköterskor. Slutsats:Flertalet olika metoder var bidragande när det kommer till att minska arbetsrelaterad stress hos sjuksköterskor. Dessa metoder skiljde sig mycket från varandra, men hade alla gemensamt att de ämnade att skapa strategier för sjuksköterskan att bättre kunna hantera stress, dvs utveckla sina copingstrategier. / Background: Nurses experience high levels of stress in their daily work, that leads to consequences when it comes to the organization, the well-being of the nurse herself, but also when it comes to patient safety. Aim: The aim of this study was to summarize how occupational stress among nurses can be reduced. Method: The design of this study was a describing literature review where 12 articles where analyzed.Main results: Several interventions and stress reduction programs have examined if they can help nurses handle occupational stress, i.e. develop their coping strategies. Recovery, as physical activity, social support, and other treatments like cane assisted therapy, auriculotherapy, massage, lavender oil treatment and the breaks can help reduce stress in nurses. The organization and the leadership, was also important when it comes to reducing the stress levels for nurses. Conclusion: Several methods contributed to reduce the stress level among nurses. Even though these methods differed, they all had in common that they aimed to create strategies for nurses to be able to handle occupational stress, i.e. to develop their coping strategies.

Stressors resulting from one's work life including work conditions, job characteristics, and relationships with others at work have been shown to impact employee health outcomes at both psychological and physical levels (Le Blanc, Jonge, & Schaufeli, 2008; Spector, Dwyer, & Jex, 1988). Interpersonal conflict is one prevalent workplace stressor that has been associated with poor work-related outcomes and psychological states. A cross-sectional design with multi-source data collection methods was used to measure conflict, perceptions of control, coping strategies, and both psychological and physical well-being. Overall, findings suggested that the success of coping efforts hinges on the combination of the nature of the stressor (conflict with supervisors vs. with a co-worker), perceptions of control over that stressor (high or low control), and coping strategy used (problem-focused or emotion-focused coping). This may explain at least to a certain extent why previous efforts to document the moderating effects of coping have been inconsistent, especially pertaining to emotion-focused coping.

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskeyrket är ett av de yrken där sjukskrivningar är vanligt förekommande. I sitt arbete möter sjuksköterskan både utmanande och påfrestande situationer som i längden kan bidra till ohälsa. Förutom att arbetsrelaterad stress påverkar sjuksköterskans välmående så kan det även ge konsekvenser för omvårdnaden, äventyra patientsäkerheten samt medföra stora kostnader för samhället. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av resiliens vid arbetsrelaterad stress. Metod: Studien gjordes som en allmän litteraturstudie där åtta vetenskapliga artiklar av kvalitativ ansats bearbetades i en innehållsanalys. Resultat: Analysen mynnade ut i tre huvudkategorier; Organisatoriska faktorer som påverkar sjuksköterskans resiliens, Erfarenheter av stöd som påverkar sjuksköterskans resiliens, samt Inre kapacitet, strategier och personlig utveckling som påverkar sjuksköterskans resiliens. Det som främst påverkar sjuksköterskans resiliens negativt vid arbetsrelaterad stress är organisatoriska brister, vilka utgör ett hinder för att bedriva god och säker vård. Sjuksköterskor upplever att främjande faktorer för resiliens vid arbetsrelaterad stress är stöd från omgivningen, där framförallt ett gott arbetsklimat med goda relationer lyfts. Andra faktorer är utbildning, humor samt att ha en tro. Genom erfarenhet, självkontroll och copingstrategier kan sjuksköterskor hantera stress. Slutsats: Genom att belysa vilka faktorer som påverkar sjuksköterskans resiliens kan åtgärder vidtas för att främja sjuksköterskans välmående och indirekt även bidra till en bättre kvalité på vården. / Background: Nursing as a profession is one of the professions with the highest ratings in terms of turnovers and sick-leaves. The nurse encounters several challenging situations that can cause stress and long-term illness. Work related stress also influence the patient negatively in terms of higher safety risks, consequences for the quality of care and great cost for the society. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe nurses' experience of resilience in relation to work related stress. Method: The study was conducted as a general literature review. Eight scientific articles with a qualitative approach was analyzed through content analysis. Result: Three main categories emerged; Organizational factors that influence the nurse’s resilience, Experiences of support, Inner capacity, strategies and personal growth that influence on the nurse’s resilience. The main thing influencing nurses' resilience is organizational and structural barriers that acted as an obstacle for quality care. Nurses experienced that support from colleagues and other relations are positively correlated to better personal resilience. Other components are education, humour and religious beliefs. Through experience, self-control and coping strategies the nurse can manage stress. Conclusion: By illustrating the contributing factors for resilience among nurses, actions can be taken for promoting the nurse’s well-being and indirectly, good quality care.

Bakgrund: Brist på vårdpersonal är ett globalt problem. Vårdpersonalens intention att lämna sin anställning påverkar både patienter och samhället negativt och en av faktorerna som påverkar detta är arbetsrelaterad stress. Syfte: Syftet var att kartlägga faktorerna vårdpersonals arbetsrelaterade stress och intention att lämna sin anställning samt sambandet dem emellan.  Metod: Tio artiklar med en kvantitativ metod inkluderades i studien. Samtliga artiklar genomgick kvalitetsgranskning, analys och har sammanställts. I sökningarna användes databaserna Pubmed, Cinahl, APA PsycInfo och Scopus.  Resultat: Samtliga artiklar visade att vårdpersonal upplevde arbetsrelaterad stress och att det fanns vårdpersonal med intention att lämna anställning. De visade även ett signifikant positivt samband mellan dessa faktorer.  Konklusion: Resultatet i denna litteraturstudie belyser ett globalt problem och kan användas för att öka medvetenheten om detta. För att hitta en lösning behövs systematiska interventioner i organisationen och området behöver vidare forskning för att validera denna kunskap och tydliggöra problemets natur. Arbetet med detta kan få betydelse för både vårdtagare och vårdgivare. / Background: Nurse shortage is a global problem. Nurse’s turnover intention has a negative effect on both patients and society and one of the factors affecting this is occupational stress. Aim: The aim was to map nurse’s occupational stress and turnover intention and the correlation between these factors. Methods: Ten articles using a quantitative method were included in the study. All of the articles have gone through a quality review, analysis and compilation. The article searches were conducted using the databases Pubmed, Cinahl, APA PsycInfo and Scopus.  Results: All of the ten articles showed that nurse’s experienced occupational stress and that there were nurse’s with turnover intention. They also indicated a significant positive correlation between these factors.  Conclusion: The results of the literature review illuminates a global problem and can be used to increase awareness about it. To find a solution, systematic interventions are needed in the organization and the subject needs further research to validate this knowledge and clarify the nature of the problem. This work can have significance for both caretakers and caregivers.

Background: Work-related stress occurs to a large extent among nurses and other healthcare workers. Stress is a continuing problem in healthcare. Stress at work is harmful in the long run and is one of the risk factors that damages health, according to the Swedish Work Environment Authority. Work-related stress is an underlying cause of sick leave. Nearly 90% of all sick leave is due to mental illness. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe how nurses experience work-related stress. Methods: A descriptive literature study with a thematic data analysis method based on 10 scientific articles that corresponded to the aim. Main result: The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of work-related stress among nurses and the various factors that triggered stress in the workplace. The results showed that work-related stress made the quality of care worse, when for example nurses had a high workload and not enough time to complete their work before changing shifts. Communication problems and conflicts that arose between nurses in the workplace made nurses experience work-related stress. In connection with work-related stress, nurses experienced negative emotions in different situations, for instance in the form of anxiety, fear, insecurity, and fatigue, which made the nurses feel bad. Conclusion: Work-related stress is a continuing problem among nurses in health care, which increases the risk of poorer quality of care. Stress causes nurses to feel bad at work and experience negative emotions. A better understanding about managing and the origin of work-related stress can help nurses feel better and handle their emotions in a better way. / Bakgrund: Arbetsrelaterad stress förekommer i stor utsträckning bland sjuksköterskor och annan sjukvårdspersonal. Stress är ett kvarstående problem inom hälso- och sjukvården. Stress på arbetet är skadligt i längden och räknas som en av riskfaktorerna som skadar hälsan, rapporterar arbetsmiljöverket. Arbetsrelaterad stress är en bakomliggande orsak till sjukskrivningar. Ungefär 90% av alla sjukskrivningar handlar om psykisk ohälsa. Syfte: Att beskriva hur sjuksköterskor upplever arbetsrelaterad stress.  Metod: En deskriptiv litteraturstudie med tematisk dataanalysmetod där 10 vetenskapliga artiklar som svarar på syfte som valdes ut.                   Huvudresultat: Denna studies syfte handlade om att skildra upplevelsen av arbetsrelaterad stress bland sjuksköterskor samt de olika faktorer som utlöste stress på arbetsplatsen. I resultatet framkom att arbetsrelaterad stress gjorde att vårdens kvalité blev sämre när exempelvis sjuksköterskor hade hög arbetsbelastning, inte tillräckligt med tid för att slutföra sitt arbete innan skiftbyte.  Kommunikationsproblem och konflikter som uppstod mellan sjuksköterskor på arbetsplatsen fick sjuksköterskor att uppleva arbetsrelaterad stress. I samband med arbetsrelaterad stress upplevde sjuksköterskor även negativa känslor vid olika situationer i form av till exempel oro, rädsla, osäkerhet och trötthet vilket gjorde att de mådde dåligt. Slutsats: Arbetsrelaterad stress är ett kvarstående problem bland sjuksköterskor inom hälso- och sjukvården, som ökar risken för sämre vårdkvalitet. Stressen gör att sjuksköterskor mår dåligt på arbetet och upplever negativa känslor. Bättre förståelse av hantering och uppkomst av arbetsrelaterad stress kan hjälpa sjuksköterskor att må bättre samt hantera sina känslor på ett bättre sätt.

Background: Registered nurses in the emergency department are exposed to a high workload, and the work environment is stressful. Frequent reports of burnout in the health care profession are a fact, and nurses are a particularly vulnerable group. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate registered nurses’ experiences of work-related stress in the emergency department. Method: A literature review including 13 quantitative and qualitative studies was conducted. The databases CINAHL and Pubmed were used to find relevant research for this study’s intended purpose. The authors read all the studies multiple times to gain understanding and to find connections between the results. Results: The findings in this study revealed three main themes: the feeling of inadequacy, not having control and, finally, the deterioration of their health. The nurses conveyed that they were not capable of performing optimal care due to a lack of recourses paired with a high workload. The feeling of endangering the patients' safety because of the nurses' stress was recurring. The nurses described multiple coping mechanisms to handle stressful situations at emergency departments, but none that really worked. Conclusion: The nurses in the emergency department feel that work-related stress has a negative impact on their mental and physical health. Feelings such as powerlessness, guilt towards the patients and shame were common. Most nurses described that they were not satisfied with the quality of the care they provided. All nurses expressed the need for more resources to manage stress and to provide appropriate patient-safe care.

The 21st century world of work is characterised by increased global competition, a relentless drive to cost effective measures, work pressure, highly constrained budgets, higher levels of unemployment, constant economic fluctuations, political instability as well as corruption. The general aim of this study was to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and occupational stressors amongst firefighters in a metropolitan municipality. Although there has been some research conducted on stress amongst firefighters in South Africa, there has been no research on the two constructs of occupational stress and emotional intelligence of firefighters. The study was done through a quantitative research method. The sample was selected by using the nonprobability sample of convenience. The sample was obtained by selecting any seven (7) of the 21 fire stations randomly. The sample consisted of 150 firefighters who completed a Biographical Information Questionnaire, Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I 2.0) and the Sources of Work Stress Inventory (SWSI). The questionnaires were analysed using SPSS, the correlation and multiple linear regression results indicated that there is a relationship between the two constructs, emotional intelligence and occupational stress amongst firefighters and that those with a higher level of emotional intelligence experienced less stress and those who scored lower on emotional intelligence experienced high levels of stress. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organizational Psychology)