The goal of this study was to explore the factors impacting on the well-being of ICU employees. The objectives of the study were: <ul> <li> To theoretically conceptualise the factors impacting on employees in a hospital ICU.</li> <li> To explore the role of personal factors such as personality, behaviour risks and resilience that impact on the well-being of ICU employees.</li> <li> To explore the organisational and work related factors that impinge on ICU employees and the impact these factors have on their well-being.</li> <li> To make recommendations regarding the implementation of proactive strategies.</li></ul> The research question of the qualitative study is: What are the factors impacting on the well-being of intensive care employees at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital? This is an applied, qualitative research study. The research design used was a collective case study using focus group interviewing. The research study was conducted at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital Intensive Care Unit. The sample was selected using non-probability, purposive sampling. The sample consisted of ten doctors, thirteen nursing personnel and seven allied professionals (four physiotherapists and three dieticians). A pilot study was conducted with two doctors, two nurses and a social worker to test the interview schedule. This group did not form part of the sample. The researcher did her best to adhere to ethical considerations. Participants were informed of the nature of the research and completed informed consent forms. Anonymity was ensured through presenting responses collectively. No individual names or responses will be identified. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect data during focus group interviewing. The four focus group sessions were tape recorded. After completion of the focus group interviewing, the data was transcribed verbatim and then the data was organised into themes and sub-themes. The findings were released in a mini-dissertation. The report is accurate and reflects the true facts. All sources, references and assistance are acknowledged. The themes and sub-themes identified were: <ul> <li> Theme one: Job Satisfaction and sub-themes-Fulfilment, Meaning to Work, Emotions experienced, Changes healthcare workers would like implemented.</li> <li> Theme two: Stressors and sub-themes- What the stressors are, Control over the Stressors, Self-care techniques utilised, Personal Resources and Ways of de-stressing.</li> <li> Theme three: Trauma</li> <li> Theme four: Interpersonal Relationships and sub-themes- Connectivity amongst team, Impact connectivity has on functioning and Teamwork.</li> <li> Theme five: Role Demands and sub-themes- Job Description, Role Conflict and Balance between work and personal life.</li> <li> Theme six: Job Resources and sub-themes- Adequacy of resources, Resources Lacking and Impact job resources have on functioning.</li> <li> Theme seven: Job Conditions and sub-themes- Work Overload, Job Security and Working Conditions.</li></ul> The findings of the study were as follows: <ul> <li> CHBH employees experience high job satisfaction as they are doing what they want to do. They feel that they make a difference and enjoy trauma work. They are where things happen and where they want to be.</li> <li> The stressors faced by ICU employees can be divided into emotional and physical/resource stressors. The physical stressors were found to be: long working hours, lack of resources, untrained staff, budget, procuring equipment and resources, lack of human resources, equipment and linen shortages. The emotional stressors were related to having to deal with trauma and the impact thereof, dealing with death and dying, decisions regarding the switching off of life support machines, not always knowing if you did the right thing and wondering if you did everything you could for the patient to save their life.</li> <li> Daily, employees are faced with dealing with trauma and the impact thereof. This has an impact on well-being and can lead to compassion fatigue or soul weariness.</li> <li> It is important to examine the interplay of job resources and job demands. If job demands are high and job resources lacking, well-being is impacted. Job resources may buffer the impact of job demands and thus reduce burnout, exhaustion and increase motivation.</li> <li> If job demands are high and job resources low, job demands will exceed the individuals’ capacity to cope and overtax or stretch ability to cope. ICU employees experience being overstretched and overtaxed due to high job demands and being under-resourced. Work overload results in exhaustion.</li> <li> Relationships are an important aspect of organisational support. Employees value their relationships with colleagues and this provides opportunities for discussing patients, sharing knowledge and obtaining assistance with patient care. By pooling resources the team has additional resources to resolve complex situations.</li> <li> The working conditions of ICU employees are impacted by shortages in human and equipment resources.</li></ul> Recommendations arising from the study are: <ul> <li> A lifestyle and health management program dealing with issues of nutrition, exercise, relaxation, self awareness and disease management.</li> <li> An educative stress management program which is presented at induction and orientation.</li> <li> Preventative programs that enhance knowledge and skills on coping and self-care.</li> <li> Self awareness programs designed to assist employees in understanding their own stressors and reactions, enhance their self-esteem by developing strengths, resilience and coping.</li> <li> Human capital management- developing strategies to attract retain and reduce staff shortages.</li> <li> Facilities for exercise and relaxation- the provision of a gym facility.</li> <li> Program to reduce fatigue and recovery time.</li> <li> Group sessions focussing on catharsis and ventilation of feelings.</li> <li> A comprehensive Employee Wellness Program. </ul> / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted

The cost of higher education is rapidly increasing on both a global scale (Creed, French &amp; Hood, 2015), and in the local South African context (Calitz &amp; Fourie, 2016). This rise in costs has seen a commensurate increase in the number of university students who work, largely as a means to fund the increasing cost of their higher education (Butler, 2007; Cinamon, 2016; Owen, Kavanagh &amp; Dollard, 2018). These working students are frequently referred to as non-traditional students in the academic literature. The psychological experiences of non-traditional students who work is a pertinent and expanding area of interest for multiple stakeholders (Owen et al., 2018). These experiences can be classified through the constructs of Work-School Conflict (WSC) and Work-School Enrichment (WSE), which refer, respectively, to the negative and positive aspects of the work-school interface (Butler, 2007). The antecedents of WSC and WSE experiences amongst nontraditional working students have to date not received any empirical attention in the South African research literature. This study aims to address this gap by contributing to the national body of knowledge in this area. The measures used were secondary self-report survey data completed by post-graduate university students who are simultaneously engaged in paid work (N=330). Multiple regression analyses indicated that time demands, job demands and social support from work explained a significant proportion of WSC; whilst job-school congruence and social support within the work context were statistically significant predictors of WSE. Moderation analyses revealed that social support at work influenced the relationship between job demands and WSC, whilst employee role saliency significantly interacted with job-school congruence to influence WSE. The results of this study are aligned to international work-school research findings, which support the additive model of job characteristics as antecedents to WSC and WSE. These results also provide deeper insight into the less explored moderation effects of work resources and demands interacting to influence WSC and WSE. Theoretical, management and educational implications of these findings are considered in relation to the existing literature.

Being a manager means taking responsibility with many daily decisions. The work requirements are usually high, which can lead to an unsustainable situation as you work significantly more than you should. Previous research made on the subject shows more and more managers feeling worse, partly due to the high workload. What has also been shown is that managers give the illusion of feeling good, even though they do not, as the work in reality is perceived as both demanding and hectic. The study aims to examine managers' perceived well-being and under what circumstances this is affected, and whether there is any difference between men and women. To investigate this, a qualitative method has been applied, where ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with five men and five women who are all managers and have some type of personnel responsibility. The collected empirical evidence showed that all the managers surveyed were well, even though nine out of ten worked more than full time. Most also showed an awareness of how workload can have a negative impact if you do not have the right conditions. Circumstances that may affect well-being are, for example, resources, motivation and relationships. Overall, the women were more positive in their answers, while the men were instead somewhat more thoughtful and open to raising problems that could exist. The study can be summarized that all managers who were interviewed experienced a good well-being at their workplace. / Att vara chef innebär ett ansvarstagande med många dagliga beslut. Arbetskraven är oftast höga, vilket kan leda till en ohållbar arbetssituation då man arbetar betydligt mer än vad man ska. Tidigare undersökningar som genomförts inom ämnet resulterar i att allt fler chefer mår sämre, bland annat på grund av den höga arbetsbelastningen. Vad som även påvisats är att chefer utger sig för att må bra, trots att de inte gör det, då arbetet i verkligheten upplevs som både krävande och hektiskt. Studien syftar till att undersöka chefers upplevda välbefinnande och under vilka omständigheter detta påverkas, samt om det skiljer sig något mellan män och kvinnor. För att undersöka detta har en kvalitativ metod tillämpats, där tio semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med fem män och fem kvinnor som alla är chefer och besitter någon typ av personalansvar.  Den insamlade empirin visade att alla de tillfrågade cheferna mådde bra, trots att nio av tio arbetade mer än heltid. De flesta visade även en medvetenhet kring hur arbetsbelastning kan ha en negativ påverkan om man inte har rätt förutsättningar. Omständigheter som kan komma att påverka välbefinnandet är exempelvis resurser, motivation och relationer. Överlag var kvinnorna mer positiva i sina svar medan männen istället var något mer fundersamma och öppna till att lyfta problem som kunde finnas. Studien kan sammanfattas med att alla chefer som intervjuats upplevde ett gott välbefinnande på sin arbetsplats.

Title: “After all, we are designed to be social beings” - A qualitative study on employees’experience of teleworking during the corona pandemic Authors: Anna Bengtsson &amp; Liselotte Lundahl Abstract The aim of this study is to examine how employees in the white-collar sector experience their work situation during mandatory teleworking caused by the corona pandemic. The aim is to answer four questions concerning self-discipline, employer control, work requirements, decision-making space, social support and impact on well-being. The empirical material comprises semi-structured interviews with eight officials who share the experience ofteleworking. The theoretical framework includes Karasek's &amp; Theorell's demand-control-support model and Foucault's theory of power. The results show that self-discipline varies and changes among the employees, with the exception of a few, who continue to have a high level of self-discipline. Great self-discipline is also required to maintain social relations during teleworking. Further, the results show a reduced level of employer's control; there was an uncertainty among the employees about the extent of the employer's supervision. The results also show increased demands for independence, self-determination and decision-making space. There are experiences of reduced decision-making space in connection with difficulties in getting help from colleagues during remote work. Social support has decreased during teleworking, which also affects well-being.The main reason for reduced well-being is the feeling of loneliness and isolation. The conclusions are that teleworking primarily changes communication from being personal to becoming work-related during the corona pandemic. Furthermore, it appears that digital gatherings cannot replace the physical ones. Keywords: Krav, Kontroll, Stöd, Självdisciplin, Teleworking, Telecommuting, Distansarbete,Covid-19, Job demands, Self-control, Self-discipline, Emotional support, Wellbeing, Flexiblework. / Sammanfattning Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur medarbetare inom tjänstemannasektorn upplever sin arbetssituation under tvingande distansarbete orsakat av coronapandemin. Syftet är att besvara fyra frågeställningar om självdisciplin, arbetsgivarens kontroll, arbetskrav ochbeslutsutrymme, socialt stöd samt påverkan på välbefinnande. Det empiriska materialet består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta tjänstemän som delar med sig av sina upplevelser. Det teoretiska ramverket innefattar Karaseks &amp; Theorells krav-kontroll-stöd-modell och Foucaults maktteori.Resultaten visar att självdisciplinen varierar och förändras hos informanterna med undantag av ett fåtal som har fortsatt hög självdisciplin. En hög självdisciplin krävs även för att bibehålla de sociala relationerna under distansarbetet. Resultaten visar en minskad kontroll från arbetsgivaren. Dock råder en osäkerhet kring omfattningen av arbetsgivarens övervakning. Resultaten visar ökade krav på självständighet och självbestämmande och ökat beslutsutrymme. Likväl framkommer upplevelser av minskat beslutsutrymme i samband med svårigheter att få hjälp från kollegor under distansarbetet. Det sociala stödet har minskat under distansarbetet, vilket även påverkar välbefinnandet i någon form. Den främsta orsaken till minskat välbefinnande är känslan av ensamhet och isolering. Slutsatserna blir att distansarbetet under särskilda omständigheter framför allt förändrar kommunikationen från att vara personlig till att bli arbetsrelaterad under coronapandemin. Vidare framkommer att digitala sammankomster inte kan ersätta de fysiska. Sökord: Krav, Kontroll, Stöd, Självdisciplin, Teleworking, Telecommuting, Distansarbete,Covid-19, Job demands, Self control, Self discipline, Emotional support, Wellbeing, Flexiblework.

In 2018, a new welfare law was implemented in Sweden aiming to increase the collaboration between hospital care, primary care and municipalities in cases where patients are in need of continued care and attention after they have been discharged from inpatient care (the Collaboration Act, my translation). The legislation contains instructions on the division of responsibilities between the different actors involved in the collaboration, but also provisions about municipal payment responsibility in cases where patients can´t be discharged from inpatient care at hospital within three days from the day he or she has been assessed as medically finished by the responsible doctor. This study aimed to describe and analyze the significance of the Collaboration Act for care managers in cases where elderly people have been discharged inpatient care. The empirical material was collected through qualitative interviews with six care managers. In order to analyze the empirical material a theoretical framework has been used consisting of Lundquists theory on officials as guardians of democracy and Lipskys theory on street-level bureaucrats. The result indicates that the care managers working methods are unchanged, but that the pace has increased in the care planning process. This means that the same amount of work must be performed as before, but with a more limited time before the municipal payment responsibility arises which has led to a consequence with inadequate investigations and needs assessments for the elderly client. To handle this dilemma, care managers overcompensate the elderly client with care interventions to create a feeling of security when they are dischared from inpatient care.

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En tredjedel av världens kvinnor har blivit våldsutsatta och år 2022 blev tio personer mördade av sin partner i Sverige. Personal på kvinnojourer och skyddade boenden har en viktig roll att erbjuda skydd och stöd. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka personalens upplevelser av krav, resurser och utomorganisatorisk samverkan i arbetet med de skyddsplacerade med Jobb-Krav-Resursmodellen som teoretiskt perspektiv. Elva semistrukturerade intervjuer tematiserades med personal från tre olika kvinnojourer och ett privatägt skyddat boende. Ur analysen framkom tio teman som besvarade frågeställningarna. Resultatet visade att personalen upplevde en tung arbetsbelastning med en mängd ovissa arbetsinsatser, ambivalenta skyddsplacerade och snäva tidsramar vilket gav känslor av frustration samt stress. Betydelsefulla arbetsresurser var kollegialt stöd, möjligheter till kompetensutveckling och god påverkan på arbetsplatsen. Samverkan var bristfällig med andra organisationer vilket upplevdes vara relaterat till bristande helhetssyn och okunskaper om våldets konsekvenser, vilket försvårade möjligheterna att hjälpa de skyddsplacerade att återuppbygga sina liv. / One-third of the world´s women have experienced violence, and in 2022, ten people were murdered by their partners in Sweden. Staff at women´s shelters and safe houses play a crucial role in providing protection and support. The purpose of this study is to examine the staff´s experiences of work demands, work resources and interorganizational collaboration in their work with the victims of intimate partner violence using Job-Demand-Resource Model as a theoretical perspective. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from three different women´s shelters and one privately owned safe house. From the analysis, ten themes emerged that addressed the two research questions. The resultats showed that the staff experienced a heavy workload with a multitude of uncertain tasks, ambivalent victims and tight time frames, leading to feelings of frustration and stress. Significant work resources included collegial support, opportunities for competence development, and positive workplace influence. Collaboration with other organizations was insufficient which was perceived to be related to a lack of holistic perspective and ignorance about the consequences of violence, making it difficult to assist the victims in rebuildning their lives.

I denna studie undersöks enskilda individers upplevelser av work-life balance somverkar inom en högpresterande organisation. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ metod därdatan analyseras genom en induktiv tematisk analys. Efter genomförandet avintervjuerna kunde man sammanställa fyra teman; prestationsbaserad lön, kontroll,ledarskap och arbetskultur. Resultatet visade att samtliga respondenter haft utmaningaratt balansera privat- och arbetslivet och att karaktärsdragen bakom en högpresterandeorganisation upplevs ligga bakom detta. Psykologiska teorier som sedan gick attapplicera på resultatet var Karaseks och Theorells krav, kontroll- och stödmodell samtBakker och Demeroutis jobbkrav- och resursmodell. / This study examines the work-life balance experiences of individuals working in a high-performance organization. The study is based on a qualitative method where the data isanalyzed through an inductive thematic analysis. After conducting the interviews, fourthemes could be summarized: performance-based pay, control, leadership, and workculture. The results showed that all respondents had challenges in balancing theirprivate and work life and that the characteristics of a high-performance organization areperceived to be behind this. Psychological theories that could then be applied to theresults were Karasek and Theorell&amp;#39;s demand, control and support model and Bakker andDemerouti&amp;#39;s job requirement and resource model.

First-line nurse managers are very important to healthcare organizations. They are the ones who have the closest contact to employees and are responsible for on-the-floor management duties. Due to being in between upper management and employees they are responsible for numerous tasks both concerning administration but also the staff. They face high work demands on a daily basis and are, therefore, more susceptible to experience job stress and lower job satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to examine how first-line nurse managers perceive their work environment and how it influences job stress and job satisfaction. In this qualitative study, data was collected through semi-structured interviews. A total of eight Icelandic nurse managers were interviewed, so the data was analyzed from an Icelandic perspective. The interviews focus on exploring what work-related factors contribute to a higher stress-level, as well as what factors increase job satisfaction, and how the nurse managers are impacted by them. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis, from which eight different themes emerged; ‘Shortage of staff’, ‘Lack of time’, ‘High workload’, ‘Formal power’, ‘Work-life interface’, ‘The importance of support’, ‘Fun work environment’, ‘Individual coping strategies’. These themes demonstrate different aspects of the work environment. The main findings show that the work environment of nurse managers is highly demanding and they face many challenges daily, and that these are the factors that have the most impact on job stress and job satisfaction.

The present study examines how the relationship between workplace bullying and mental health can be influenced by emotional exhaustion, and how the intensity in this relationship can be affected by the individual’s psychological capital, and access to social support from colleagues and supervisors. The studys theoretical framework is based on the Job Demand-Control-Support model, the Job Demands-Resources model and the Conservation of Resources theory. Data were collected at Indian workplaces and included 139 participants. The study used a self-report questionnaire and was analyzed with mediation and moderation as main analysis methods. In line with previous research, results showed that psychological capital as a whole moderated the negative effects on mental health that follow from being exposed to workplace bullying. Emotional exhaustion was found to be a mediator in the association between workplace bullying and mental health problems. Psycological capital resilience fully moderated the mediating association between workplace bullying and mental health problems via emotional exhaustion. Psychological capital optimism moderated the association between bullying and emotional exhaustion, but not the full mediation. Social support was shown not to moderate the negative effects of workplace bullying on mental health, which does not support previous findings.