Physical activity in managing stress among managers during a COVID-19 pandemic-systematic review

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic managers experienced additional stress connected with taking responsibility for workers at the time of a worldwide crisis. Maintaining a high level of physical activity in this specific group possibly could have contributed to keeping both management skills and health condition at a high required standard. The purpose of this review is to verify the range of scientific interest on the subject of physical activity among managers as a stress coping strategy during the pandemic. Materials and Methods: For this systematic review six studies were chosen (two of them are qualitative descriptive, three are cross-sectional, one is a report). The inclusion criteria were as follows: studies focusing on stress, physical activity and managers;studies conducted in the years of COVID-19 epidemic available in full-text. The exclusion criteria applied to studies where the managers' group was not specified. The number of study participants ranged from 20 to 255. Results: The frequency of exercise was insufficient and unsuitable to the managers' specific needs, especially during the demanding time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: The managers were highly aware of the role of sport in lowering stress and improving health, especially during the pandemic. However, this has not resulted in more frequent physical activity among this group. There is a high probability that further confronting the leaders with their real physical activity daily habits would have influenced their reflection about the subject and initiated change.

Conflict in the EMS Workforce: An Analysis of an Open-Ended Survey Question Reveals a Complex Assemblage of Stress, Burnout, and Pandemic-Related Factors Influencing Well-Being.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) clinicians provide patient care within a high-stakes, unpredictable, and complex work environment in which conflict is inevitable. Our objective was to explore the extent to which added stressors of the pandemic exacerbated EMS workplace conflict. We administered our survey to a sample of U.S. nationally certified EMS clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2022. Out of 1881 respondents, 46% (n = 857) experienced conflict and 79% (n = 674) provided free-text descriptions of their experience. The responses were analyzed for themes using qualitative content analysis, and they were then sorted into codes using word unit sets. Code counts, frequencies, and rankings were tabulated, enabling quantitative comparisons of the codes. Of the fifteen codes to emerge, stress (a precursor of burnout) and burnout-related fatigue were the key factors contributing to EMS workplace conflict. We mapped our codes to a conceptual model guided by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report on using a systems approach to address clinician burnout and professional well-being to explore implications for addressing conflict within that framework. Factors attributed to conflict mapped to all levels of the NASEM model, lending empirical legitimacy to a broad systems approach to fostering worker well-being. Our findings lead us to propose that active surveillance (enhanced management information and feedback systems) of frontline clinicians' experiences during public health emergencies could increase the effectiveness of regulations and policies across the healthcare system. Ideally, the contributions of the occupational health discipline would become a mainstay of a sustained response to promote ongoing worker well-being. The maintenance of a robust EMS workforce, and by extension the health professionals in its operational sphere, is unquestionably essential to our preparedness for the likelihood that pandemic threats may become more commonplace.

Psychosocial risks emerged from COVID-19 pandemic and workers' mental health.

This paper examines the impact of work in a pandemic context on workers' mental health. Psychosocial risks have always been a challenging aspect of workplace health and safety practices. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected workplaces in all sectors causing unexpected changes in work organization and working conditions, leading to the emergence of new psychosocial risks for health and wellbeing of workers. This mini-review aims to identify the main work stressors during pandemic period and related mental health problems to suggest recommendations and adjust health and safety practices regarding workplace mental health. A literature search has been performed using MEDLINE/PubMed, ResearchGate and Google Scholar databases, selecting articles focusing on work-related stressors and workers' mental health problems related to the pandemic. Specific psychosocial risks have been identified, including fear of contagion, telework-related risks, isolation and stigmatization, rapid digitalization demands, job insecurity, elevated risk of violence at work or home, and work-life imbalance, among others. All those risks can lead to elevated levels of stress among workers and affect their mental health and wellbeing, especially in terms of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression. As one of the social determinants of health, the workplace has an important and moderating role in workers' health. Therefore, in the pandemic context more than ever health protection practices at the workplace should be devoted to mental health problems. Recommendations provided in this study are expected to contribute to workplace practices to preserve and promote workers' mental health.

Research article An interprofessional collaborative approach to alleviate workplace stress among medical college faculty during COVID pandemic

Introduction and Aim: Job and stress are not mutually exclusive;in fact, stress is inherent to job. In the present era of COVID pandemic, working as health care providers may entail highest levels of stress leading to burnout. Thus, affecting work efficiency of faculty, in turn reflecting on students' performance and health care services to patients. However, de-stressors like yoga and art-based interventions are scarce and not well documented to date. Hence, the present study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of stress alleviating yoga and creative art therapy through interprofessional collaborative approach. Method(s): Sixty medical faculty of either gender aging 30-60 years, were randomly divided into two equal groups-control and intervention group. The intervention group underwent yoga and creative art therapy for 10 days duration each. International stress management association (ISMA) stress questionnaire and Kessler's psychological distress (K-10) scale were administered before and post-intervention, to compare the stress levels. Blood pressure (BP), pulse rate, body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio (WHR) were also measured. Comparative analysis of pre-post test scores was done using Student's paired 't' test. Result(s): According to ISMA and K-10 scores, the intervention group showed statistically significant (p <= 0.05) decrease in stress levels among faculty. However, BP, BMI and WHR didn't show any significant change after the intervention. Conclusion(s): Yoga and art therapy were proved to be beneficial in reducing the stress levels among faculty significantly. Comparative analysis also showed significant reduction irrespective of their gender and specialty.Copyright © 2023, Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists. All rights reserved.

How Workplace Challenges Affect the Risk of Substance Use Disorders in a Health Care Environment.

Health care environments have historically faced stressful situations that place those working in those environments at risk for substance use disorders. Over the past several years, the rates of burnout, workplace violence, diverse population stigmatization, and mental health concerns (including suicide) during the Covid-19 pandemic have increased, further challenging and contributing to development of negative coping skills, including use of substances to reduce the side effects and emotions from work. This article introduces the problem of substance use disorders, pathophysiology, and how the challenges contribute to the development of turning to substances to cope.

Utilization of Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Theory to Evaluate Workplace Stress Experienced by Health Care Assistants in a UK In-Patient Dementia Unit after 10 Years of National Financial Austerity (2008-2018).

AIMS: Workplace stress for support workers in UK hospitals (Health Care Assistants; HCAs) is poorly understood. This study explores experiences of HCAs working in a National Health Service in-patient dementia unit after 10 years of national financial austerity (2008-2018). DESIGN: Qualitative evaluation. METHODS: 15 HCAs (42%) from a specialist dementia care Unit were interviewed. Interviews were guided by UK Health & Safety Executive published dimensions of work stress. Framework analysis was applied to interview transcriptions, corroborated by a follow-up focus group (6 HCAs). Post hoc interviews with 10 nurses were later introduced to obtain a balanced view of teamwork on the Unit. RESULTS: Health care assistants were altruistic regarding demands of dementia care but otherwise negative of most aspects of their work environment. Staff shortages had increased job demands: workload, poor shift rotas, and excessive reliance on inexperienced agency staff. According to HCAs, job resources of the care team were in significant deficit: nurses in charge were perceived as poor team leaders, had poor interpersonal skills, lacked respect for experienced HCAs, and deemed to be frequently absent from the ward so failing to support carers. HCAs' lack of decision-latitude exacerbated the situation. In contrast, nurses interviewed did not recognise the teamwork issues raised by HCAs, who were considered obstructive, unsupportive, lacked awareness of nurses' responsibilities, and of insights how understaffing meant excessive administration and time required to support patients' relatives. Such dissonant inter-group views caused considerable friction and exacerbated the work pressure. CONCLUSION: Study outcomes spotlighted impacts of socioeconomic issues for HCAs. Staff shortage, exacerbated by financial austerity measures (pre-COVID pandemic), increased job demands for HCAs but their psychosocial job resources were in serious deficit, so putting them at risk of burnout. Inter-group relations are key for a collaborative ethos, and are amenable to interventions. Such difficulties should not be allowed to fester.

"Unprecedented Times:" Experiences of Social Work and Public Health Professionals during Times of Public Crises.

Social workers and public health professionals in the U.S. were profoundly impacted by COVID-19, systemic racism, and the 2020 U.S. presidential election. This study examined their external job support, burnout, and job satisfaction in the context of these circumstances. The findings suggest respondents, who had graduate degrees in social work or public health, overemphasized their job satisfaction and underemphasized their burnout. While social work and public health professionals felt satisfied with their labor, not acknowledging burnout limits the amount of support they may access to effectively continue the work. Interestingly, participants who had more administrative functions reported higher job satisfaction scores and lower burnout scores. Traditionally, those in administrative positions have more control over their schedule and work responsibilities. Findings suggest that more training, opportunities for self-care, and discussions about safety and systemic racism are needed in the workplace for social workers and public health professionals.

Prevalence of burnout among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated factors - a scoping review.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic exerted significant mental burden on healthcare workers (HCWs) operating in the frontline of the COVID-19 care as they experienced high levels of stress and burnout. The aim of this scoping review was to identify prevalence and factors associated with burnout among HCWs during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. A literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, and CINAHL. Studies were selected based on the following inclusion criteria: cross-sectional, longitudinal, case-control, or qualitative analyses, published in peer-reviewed journals, between January 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. Studies carried out on other occupations than healthcare workers or related to other pandemics than COVID-19 were excluded. Following the abstract screen, from 141 original papers identified, 69 articles were eventually selected. A large variation in the reported burnout prevalence among HCWs (4.3-90.4%) was observed. The main factors associated with increase/ decrease of burnout included: demographic characteristics (age, gender, education level, financial situation, family status, occupation), psychological condition (psychiatric diseases, stress, anxiety, depression, coping style), social factors (stigmatisation, family life), work organization (workload, working conditions, availability of staff and materials, support at work), and factors related with COVID-19 (fear of COVID-19, traumatic events, contact with patients with COVID-19, having been infected with COVID-19, infection of a colleague or a relative with COVID-19, higher number of deaths observed by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic). The findings should be useful for policy makers and healthcare managers in developing programs preventing burnout during the current and future pandemics. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2023;36(1):21-58.

Advancing the Understanding and Measurement of Workplace Stress in Remote Information Workers from Passive Sensors and Behavioral Data

Workplace stress has been increasing in recent decades and has worsened by the unique demands imposed by COVID-19 and the new remote/hybrid work settings. High-stress working conditions can be detrimental to the health and wellness of workers and can lead to significant business costs in terms of productivity loss and medical expenses. An essential step toward managing stress involves finding comfortable ways to sense workers and recognizing stress as soon as it happens. This work explores the potential value of using pervasive sensors such as keyboards, webcams, and behavioral data such as calendar and e-mail activity to passively assess individual stress levels of work in real-life. In particular, we collected a large corpus of such data from 46 remote information workers over one month and asked them to self-report their stress levels and other relevant factors several times a day. Analysis of the data demonstrates that passive sensors can effectively detect both triggers and manifestations of workplace stress and that having access to prior data of the worker is critical for developing well-performing stress recognition models. Furthermore, we provide qualitative feedback capturing workers' preferences in workplace stress monitoring.

Exploring the consequence of information communication technology-enabled work during non-working hours: a stress perspective

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of information communication technology-enabled work during non-working hours (ICT-enabled WNWHs), as a source of stress, on employee behavioral outcomes -in-role job performance, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) that benefit organizations and OCBs that benefit individuals, through emotional responses - work exhaustion, nonwork exhaustion and organization-based self-esteem. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns demonstrated that employees frequently engage in ICT-enabled WNWHs, studying stress induced by ICT-enabled WNWHs is essential for understanding employee adaptation to the work-from-home trend that emerged from COVID-19 lockdowns.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey comprising 1,178 employees in China was conducted, and the data reliability and validity were confirmed. Partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis was employed to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe study results empirically proved that, although ICT-enabled WNWHs had significant effects on employee behavioral outcomes, the related emotional responses were the mediators of the stress transmission mechanism that directly affected employee behavioral outcomes. Notably, work exhaustion and organization-based self-esteem partially mediate the stress transmission mechanism, while nonwork exhaustion exerts a full mediating effect.Originality/valueThis study proposes the stress transmission mechanism of ICT-enabled WNWHs and delineates emotional responses regarding the work environment attributes of ICT-enabled WNWHs, an approach rarely seen in prior IS studies. To our best knowledge, this study is the first to identify and empirically demonstrate organization-based self-esteem as one among the emotional responses to ICT-enabled WNWHs. Furthermore, it expands understanding of the holistic impacts of ICT-enabled WNWHs, which is lacking in information systems (IS) literature.

Understanding Human Factors Challenges on the Front Lines of Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics: Human Systems Modeling Study.

BACKGROUND: Implementing mass vaccination clinics for COVID-19 immunization has been a successful public health activity worldwide. However, this tightly coupled system has many logistical challenges, leading to increased workplace stress, as evidenced throughout the pandemic. The complexities of mass vaccination clinics that combine multidisciplinary teams working within nonclinical environments are yet to be understood through a human systems perspective. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to holistically model mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, to understand the challenges centered around frontline workers and to inform clinic design and technological recommendations that can minimize the systemic inefficiencies that contribute to workplace stress. METHODS: An ethnographic approach was guided by contextual inquiry to gather data on work as done in these ad-hoc immunization settings. Observation data were clarified by speaking with clinic staff, and the research team discussed the observation data regularly throughout the data collection period. Data were analyzed by combining aspects of the contextual design framework and cognitive work analysis, and building workplace models that can identify the stress points and interconnections within mass vaccination clinic flow, developed artifacts, culture, physical layouts, and decision-making. RESULTS: Observations were conducted at 6 mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics over 4 weeks in 2021. The workflow model depicted challenges with maintaining situational awareness about client intake and vaccine preparation among decision-makers. The artifacts model visualized how separately developed tools for the vaccine lead and clinic lead may support cognitive tasks through data synthesis. However, their effectiveness depends on sharing accurate and timely data. The cultural model indicated that perspectives on how to effectively achieve mass immunization might impact workplace stress with changes to responsibilities. This depends on the aggressive or relaxed approach toward minimizing vaccine waste while adapting to changing policies, regulations, and vaccine scarcity. The physical model suggested that the co-location of workstations may influence decision-making coordination. Finally, the decision ladder described the decision-making steps for managing end-of-day doses, highlighting challenges with data uncertainty and ways to support expertise. CONCLUSIONS: Modeling mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics from a human systems perspective identified 2 high-level opportunities for improving the inefficiencies within this health care delivery system. First, clinics may become more resilient to unexpected changes in client intake or vaccine preparation using strategies and artifacts that standardize data gathering and synthesis, thereby reducing uncertainties for end-of-day dose decision-making. Second, improving data sharing among staff by co-locating their workstations and implementing collaborative artifacts that support a collective understanding of the state of the clinic may reduce system complexity by improving shared situational awareness. Future research should examine how the developed models apply to immunization settings beyond the Region of Waterloo and evaluate the impact of the recommendations on workflow coordination, stress, and decision-making.

Do emotions matter in digitized workplace? Technostress and employees’ emotional well-being during the pandemic

Purpose This study aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19 concerns on employees' well-being, considering workplace stress, aggression, and emotional outcomes, such as emotional engagement, emotional exhaustion, and negative emotional reactions. This study also considers the moderating role of technostress between workplace stress and aggression, which has been overlooked in previous studies. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from frontline hotel employees in Turkey. Online data were collected through Amazon Mechanical Turk services. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed. Nevertheless, only 204 questionnaires with valid responses were usable for analysis through partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings The analytical findings showed that COVID-19 concerns (financial, social gaze, and technological) cause workplace stress, resulting in aggression. Aggression subsequently affects the employees' emotional outcomes, impacting their emotional well-being. Furthermore, the results showed that technostress insignificantly moderates workplace stress and aggression. Practical implications This study provides valuable practical implications to the hotels' top management, practitioners, and policymakers to provide preventive measures to employees, such as wearing masks and maintaining distance. Hotel practitioners should limit employees' direct contact with customers and reduce factors that result in overall financial losses and create financial stress for employees. Originality/value The current study examined the relationships between the study's variables in Turkey's hotel industry context by employing the conservation of resources (COR) theory. The study investigated stress and aggression phenomena, their impact on employees' emotional responses, and ultimately their influence on the employees' well-being.

Exploring midwives' coping and functioning in the labour wards during the Covid-19 pandemic from the Labour Ward Head Nurses' perspective: A qualitative study.

AIM: The aim of this study is to explore midwives' coping and functioning in the labour wards during the Covid-19 pandemic from the Labour Ward Head Nurses' perspective. BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization announced the Covid-19 outbreak to be a pandemic in March 2020. Midwives worldwide were affected by this outbreak, working in risky environments, confronting the anxiety and fear of childbearing women. METHODS: A qualitative study using thematic analysis was conducted using semi-structured interviews done over the telephone. Thirteen Labour Ward Head Nurses were interviewed, and the texts were analysed. The study took place in April 2020 during the first Covid-19 lockdown in Israel. RESULTS: Three main themes were generated in the coding process: (a) stress, fear and anxiety, (b) joint efforts and (c) frustration. CONCLUSION: Our study illustrates the difficulties that arose at the beginning of the pandemic, a new and unfamiliar chaotic period. Midwives' managers can use the current research to learn about actions that may assist in improving staff resilience and cohesion during times of crisis. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Understanding the psychological impact of the Covid-19 pandemic among health care professionals is crucial for guiding policies and interventions to maintain staff's psychological well-being.

Covid Cats and Pandemic Puppies: The Altered Realm of Veterinary Care for Companion Animals during a Global Pandemic.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and the US significantly impacted the myriad relationships that exist amongst human and non-human animals. This article highlights the tolls that the virus and lockdown measures took (and continue to take) on companion animals and the veterinary professionals who care for them. Veterinary medicine scrambled quickly to adapt to new parameters of care using pandemic protocols, radically transforming the amount and quality of care for companion animals, and the work lives of those who provide it. Changes in clinic protocols, patient admissions and discharges, deliveries, shipments, appointment scheduling and duration, and the availability of food, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment all impacted the lives of non-human animals, and the work lives of those providing veterinary care . The authors employed mixed methods research, combining ethnographic data with secondary source data analysis to illuminate the new realities of labor and interspecies care work in the lockdown-induced anthropause. The findings are relevant to veterinary professionals, researchers, companion animal guardians, animal welfare advocates, and possibly emergency management organizations in prepareding for future catastrophic events.

Hospital clinicians' psychosocial well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Hospital clinicians report poor psychosocial well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have reported data at more than one time point. AIMS: To compare psychosocial well-being among hospital clinicians at two different time points during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. METHODS: Participants included doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health clinicians at a multi-site, public health service in Melbourne, Australia. Data were collected via two cross-sectional, online surveys: May to June (wave 1; n = 638) and October to December 2020 (wave 2; n = 358). The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) assessed psychological well-being in the past week. Investigator-devised questions assessed COVID-19 concerns and perceived work impacts. General linear models were used to assess impact of wave on psychological distress. RESULTS: There were no significant demographic differences between the two groups. Both positive (e.g. learning experience) and negative (e.g. risk of getting COVID-19) impacts were reported. In both waves, staff were most concerned about health risks to family members. Wave 2 respondents were significantly more likely than wave 1 respondents to indicate concerns about colleagues having COVID-19, increased workloads, leave cancellation and increased conflict at work (all P < 0.001). Adjusting for sex, age, self-rated health and discipline group, depression, anxiety and stress scores were significantly higher for respondents in the second than the first wave (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Psychological well-being of hospital clinicians was significantly worse during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic than the first. Sustained occupational and psychosocial support is recommended even when immediate COVID-19 concerns and impacts resolve.

The importance of understanding burnout: an oncology nurse perspective.

The challenges presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic have intensified the stressors placed on nurses, leading to burnout. Oncology nurse burnout is likely to be an increasingly significant issue for cancer services as the true cost of the pandemic is revealed. Delays in diagnosis and treatment of cancers are reported widely, inevitably leading to poor prognosis and more aggressive treatments for patients. Gaining a better understanding of oncology nurse burnout, its prevalence and causes as well as strategies to reduce or prevent it will help to improve patient care and support staff wellbeing during and after the pandemic. Methodology: A search of the literature related to oncology nurse burnout, covering North America and Europe over 5 years (August 2014-January 2020), resulted in 31 articles for review. None of the studies were carried out in the UK, suggesting a need for robust investigations into oncology nurse burnout in the British health service. Summary: The prevalence of burnout among oncology nurses before the COVID-19 outbreak appeared to be high and is likely to have increased as a result of the pandemic. However, the studies investigating oncology nurse burnout are small and cross-sectional, with low-quality methods. The literature suggests the major causes of burnout arise in the workplace, particularly aspects of the environment that prevent nurses from working according to their values. Although burnout is frequently attributed to workplace factors, interventions remain focused on individuals' coping mechanisms and rarely on the workplace factors that are known to cause it.

Workplace Stress, Presenteeism, Absenteeism, and Resilience Amongst University Staff and Students in the COVID-19 Lockdown.

Background: This study explored how the COVID-19 outbreak and arrangements such as remote working and furlough affect work or study stress levels and functioning in staff and students at the University of York, UK. Methods: An invitation to participate in an online survey was sent to all University of York staff and students in May-June 2020. We measured stress levels [VAS-scale, Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ)], mental health [anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9)], physical health (PHQ-15, chronic medical conditions checklist), presenteeism, and absenteeism levels (iPCQ). We explored demographic and other characteristics as factors which may contribute to resilience and vulnerability for the impact of COVID-19 on stress. Results: One thousand and fifty five staff and nine hundred and twenty five students completed the survey. Ninety-eight per cent of staff and seventy-eight per cent of students worked or studied remotely. 7% of staff and 10% of students reported sickness absence. 26% of staff and 40% of the students experienced presenteeism. 22-24% of staff reported clinical-level anxiety and depression scores, and 37.2 and 46.5% of students. Staff experienced high stress levels due to COVID-19 (66.2%, labeled vulnerable) and 33.8% experienced low stress levels (labeled resilient). Students were 71.7% resilient vs. 28.3% non-resilient. Predictors of vulnerability in staff were having children [OR = 2.23; CI (95) = 1.63-3.04] and social isolation [OR = 1.97; CI (95) = 1.39-2.79] and in students, being female [OR = 1.62; CI (95) = 1.14-2.28], having children [OR = 2.04; CI (95) = 1.11-3.72], and social isolation [OR = 1.78; CI (95) = 1.25-2.52]. Resilience was predicted by exercise in staff [OR = 0.83; CI (95) = 0.73-0.94] and in students [OR = 0.85; CI (95) = 0.75-0.97]. Discussion: University staff and students reported high psychological distress, presenteeism and absenteeism. However, 33.8% of staff and 71.7% of the students were resilient. Amongst others, female gender, having children, and having to self-isolate contributed to vulnerability. Exercise contributed to resilience. Conclusion: Resilience occurred much more often in students than in staff, although psychological distress was much higher in students. This suggests that predictors of resilience may differ from psychological distress per se. Hence, interventions to improve resilience should not only address psychological distress but may also address other factors.