Psychological factors affecting work performance in senior nursing staff

Abstract

This study is concerned with the relationships between factors which may affect work performance in senior nursing staff. In the main these factors are seen as those events and interactions in the work/home and social environment which cause stress. The first section deals with some of the general literature regarding stress, coping and burnout. It then focuses upon research which has been carried out in specific areas of nursing. Two cohorts of data were collected over consecutive years from senior nurses employed by five Health Authorities. The first study required participants to complete a questionnaire and the Cattell 16PF test. Forty three nurses took part in this investigation and Pearson product-moment correlations were computed to consider relationships between the variables. The second study was carried out on a similar group comprising 89 nurses. The subjects were required to complete a questionnaire, the Cattell 16PF test, the Spielberger Anxiety Questionnaire, and the AH4 General Intelligence Test. Significant positive correlations were found between work performance, outside work activities, and personal behaviour patterns. In both investigations negative correlations between anxiety and intelligence were found. To relate these statistical findings to individual experiences, in-depth interviews were conducted with six senior nurses in their work environment. These interviews revealed the stressful aspects of the nurse manager's role cited by many researchers. However, more positive views regarding work/home interaction were found.