The influenza vaccine for nursing and care professionals at emergency services in Flanders.

Background: The Belgian Superior Health Council recommends seasonal influenza vaccination for people working in the health care sector in order to reduce the risk of the influenza virus being transmitted to people at risk. The aim of this study is to provide more insight into the current vaccination rate in nurses and health care professionals in emergency services in Flanders. In addition, the influence of influenza vaccination on absenteeism will be investigated, as well as the motivation to get vaccinated or not.Methods: A quantitative multicentre, cross-sectional study was carried out in whichnurses and health care professionals in emergency services in Flanders were questioned by means of an online questionnaire.Results: The survey of nurses and health care professionals in Flanders from 2018 shows that 54% (294/548) gets vaccinated in this year. Respondents who have been vaccinated report a lower absenteeism due to influenza compared to health workers who do not get vaccinated. There is a lack of general knowledge about influenza and vaccination. Thirty-four percent of nurses and health care professionals in emergencies do not know the correct definition of influenza. The main reasons for being vaccinated are: to protect oneself (27%), family members (21.5%) and patients (16%). Reasons for not getting vaccinated are: never having had the influenza before (30%), believing you get the influenza because of the vaccination (12%), no belief or trust in the vaccine (19%). Three percent of respondents who received the influenza vaccine were absent due to flu. The absence due to influenza was higher among the respondents who were not vaccinated, namely 11%. Being vaccinated for influenza or not has been associated with being absent for influenza.Conclusions: Given that there is a lack of general knowledge about influenza and its vaccination, the vaccination campaigns should cover this knowledge gap. Efforts to convince both nursing and care professionals about the protective role of the Influenza vaccine. These efforts can improve the influenza vaccination coverage rate and consequently minimize the absenteeism.Abbreviations: WHO: World Health Organization; UZA: University Hospital of Antwerp; SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.

Vulnerability and Stressors for Burnout Within a Population of Hospital Nurses: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

BACKGROUND: The multitude of negative consequences of nurse burnout calls for interventions to protect the well-being of the individual nurses, patients, and hospital organizations. However, much is still to be discovered about the development of this complex psychological syndrome. PURPOSE: This study aimed to describe the development of nurse burnout for a population of Flemish hospital nurses while considering vulnerability and situational stressors as indicated by the vulnerability-stress model. METHODS: Ten registered nurses were enlisted for semistructured interviews through purposive sampling. All selected nurses were currently suffering from burnout, showed a burnout risk, or had gone through a burnout in the past. A descriptive thematic analysis was performed with themes inductively emerging from the data. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged: "being passionate about doing well or being good," "teamwork," "manager," and "work and personal circumstances." More specifically, it was the discrepancy between the first individual vulnerability factor and the three situational stressors that led to feelings of stress and burnout. CONCLUSIONS: The essence of the development of nurse burnout was found in the discrepancy between individual vulnerability and situational stressors. Therefore, we recommend burnout prevention to target both factors.