A Cross-Sectional Study of Job Satisfaction and Intention to Leave Job in Palliative Care in Croatia.

Purpose Stressful and demanding clinical situations may contribute to job dissatisfaction and may even contribute to an intention to leave the job among palliative care (PC) clinicians. Personal and organizational factors may influence the occupational well-being of PC clinicians as well. This study aimed to determine the predictive contribution of personal (communication skills, resilience, religiosity) and organizational (coworkers' social support, job control) factors in the explanation of PC clinicians job (dis)satisfaction and their intention to leave their job. Methods The study was conducted on a convenience sample of 122 PC clinicians of different disciplines (nurses/technicians, physicians, psychologists, spiritual counsellors/priests, social workers, physical therapists, etc). The sample mainly consisted of nurses (57%). Hierarchical and logistic regression analyses of the results obtained were applied. Results This study indicates that 53% of PC clinicians are satisfied with their daily job and 76% do not intend to leave the job. The results showed no differences in job satisfaction and intention to leave between nurses/technicians and other PC clinicians. A significant negative correlation was found between job satisfaction and intention to leave the job. Communication skills, religiosity and coworkers' social support, showed as significant predictors of job satisfaction. PC clinicians' perception of their own difficulties in communicating bad news contributed significantly to job satisfaction and intention to leave the job in palliative care. Conclusion This study suggests that job satisfaction in a palliative care setting is determined by a larger number of personal and organizational factors than the intention to leave the job. Communication skills showed indispensable for providing quality care for dying patients. Skills in communicating bad news to dying patients and their families have emerged as particularly important for PC clinicians' occupational well-being.

Job demands, job control, and social support as predictors of job satisfaction and burnout in Croatian palliative care nurses.

The Job Demands-Control-Support (JDCS) model has seldom been tested in palliative care settings, and occupational well-being of palliative care professionals has never before been investigated in Croatia. Our aim was therefore to fill that gap by testing the JDCS model among Croatian nurses providing palliative care. More specifically, we wanted to see how job demands, job control, and social support at work affect occupational well-being outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and burnout dimensions of exhaustion and disengagement from work) in terms of the model's iso-strain and buffer hypotheses. This cross-sectional study included 68 nurses working in various palliative care institutions across Croatia, who answered our online questionnaire. Overall, the nurses did not report high levels of burnout or low job satisfaction. The only significant effect was that of job control on job satisfaction (ß=0.38; P<0.01) and disengagement (ß=-0.45; P<0.01), while job demands and social support at work had a significant interaction effect on the burnout dimension of exhaustion (ß=0.39; P<0.01) in the sense that high social support at work buffered the increase in exhaustion associated with high job demands. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at increasing perceived job control and social support at the workplace could improve occupational well-being of nurses working in palliative care.

Family and coping factors in the differentiation of childhood anxiety and depression.

The purpose of this investigation was to explore whether specific contextual (perception of family relationships) and personal (coping strategies) factors are more likely to be associated with anxiety or depression. The research was conducted on a sample of 331 children and adolescents ranging in age from 10 to 16 years who completed measures of the anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, coping strategies, and family interactions. Data were analysed according to gender differences. Among family variables, perceived father rejection was found to be best predictor of anxiety, and father and mother rejection, together with family satisfaction, was best predictor for the depression. Avoidance is a coping strategy that best predicts anxiety, and expressing feelings is a significant predictor of depression. This research strongly indicates that problems in family interactions are more associated and better predictors of depression than anxiety. Results support the argument that the two disorders are distinct and that they are characterized by unique coping and family profiles. Knowledge that anxiety and depression could be distinguished on the basis of family and coping variables may facilitate clinical assessment and treatment planning.