Study provides measures against staff shortage
Stress in the workplace and poor general conditions were already serious issues in the Swiss healthcare system before the pandemic. This is shown by the latest results of a national study by the Bern University of Applied Sciences. It provides solutions to counteract the shortage of skilled workers.
The current pandemic clearly demonstrates how important it is to have a well-functioning health care system with a sufficient number of specialists, as the Bern University of Applied Sciences Health writes. But even before Sars-CoV-2, the healthcare sector had to contend with a shortage of skilled workers, early departures from the profession and poor conditions in the workplace. In order to record the sources of stress, stress reactions and the resulting long-term consequences in the everyday working lives of health professionals in Switzerland, the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) Health launched the national project "Work-related Stress among Health Professionals in Switzerland", or STRAIN for short, in 2017 (see box). The study not only collects empirical data, but also provides practical solutions to reduce the problems in the long term, according to a press release.
First results on workload in the health care sector
The results of the study show the work-related stress in the healthcare sector: According to this, 28 % of midwives and 21 % of doctors are rarely or never able to keep to their legally stipulated break times in their everyday working lives. Among the doctors, 24 % are affected by a strong to very strong conflict between work and private life. 13 % of the nurses suffer from an impairment of everyday life due to spinal complaints. And 15 % of carers think about leaving the profession early several times a month or even daily. The STRAIN project team had studied the occurrence of a stressor and its actual impact on employee health and satisfaction. According to the study, the researchers found the most important correlations in the reconciliation of work and private life, the lack of development opportunities and the behaviour of direct superiors.
Leadership training can reduce stressors and long-term consequences
Based on these results, the BFH Health project team identified seven fields of action to create an optimal and healthy working environment for healthcare professionals and developed a two-day training programme for healthcare managers. During this two-day programme, the participants also exchanged views on the topic of stress in multi-professional groups and developed their own recommendations for action to improve working conditions. As an initial evaluation of the intervention shows: If more than 70 percent of an organization's leaders participated in the training program, it had an exclusively positive effect on stressors and long-term consequences.
Improving the framework conditions is crucial
In order to keep health professionals healthy and satisfied in the long term, an improvement in the framework conditions is crucial. The study shows that, on the one hand, effective measures for a good work-life balance, optimisation of the workload and management structures are key issues. On the other hand, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, better development opportunities and a stronger focus on a positive feedback and error culture are also important. According to the report, managers play a central role in the implementation of these measures in everyday practice.
Follow-up project in the starting blocks
The STRAIN project is going into the next round and is now called STRAIN 2.0. The follow-up project offers interested organisations the opportunity to record stressors in the workplace and the resulting long-term consequences in all health professions on an annual basis. The aim is to create a regular, nationwide database on work-related stress and the general conditions in all health professions. Not only would data be collected, but the evidence-based recommendations would also be further developed in order to be able to offer healthcare organisations targeted and sustainable solutions for reducing workload and optimising the framework conditions.
Source: BFH
Work-related Stress Among Health Professionals in Switzerland
The Study "Work-related Stress among Health Professionals in Switzerland" (STRAIN) of the Bern University of Applied Sciences Health recorded the different sources of stress and stress reactions as well as the resulting long-term consequences in the daily work of health professionals in Switzerland over the period 2017 to 2021. The 15-member STRAIN project team is made up of interprofessional staff from three universities: the Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, the HES-SO University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland and the University of Applied Sciences Southern Switzerland SUPSI. The STRAIN study is currently the largest intervention study in the Swiss healthcare system. It includes over 160 participating acute hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, psychiatric clinics, nursing homes and Spitex organisations from all language regions. The aim of the study is to improve the framework conditions in the healthcare sector and to keep healthcare professionals healthy and satisfied in the long term.
