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MANZANO GARCÍA G. & AYALA CALVO J. C. (2011) Emotional exhaustion of nursing staff: influence of emotional annoyance and resilience. International Nursing Review 59, 101-107 Aim: This paper aimed to study the influence of emotional annoyance and resilience on the emotional exhaustion levels of nursing staff. Background: Emotional exhaustion is one of the key factors in understanding both the performance and the quality of care that nurses give to their patients. There is a considerable body of knowledge that has focused on the study of emotional exhaustion in relation to cynicism and professional efficiency. More recently emotional annoyance and resilience have been identified as variables that could help explain levels of emotional exhaustion. Methods: Nine hundred eighty-three nurses who work in five hospitals in the north of Spain were invited to participate in the study. Five hundred questionnaires were distributed, of which 200 were fully completed. The average response rate was 40%. A personal information form, and a questionnaire concerning nurses' emotional annoyance, resilience, professional efficiency and cynicism were used as data collection instruments. To estimate a path model with latent variables, partial least squares was used. Findings: Emotional annoyance and resilience contribute to a better understanding of emotional exhaustion levels of nursing staff. There was a significant association between emotional annoyance and emotional exhaustion (β = 0.26, P = 0.020), while resilience appeared to be protective against emotional exhaustion (β = −0.22, P = 0.004). Conclusion: A more complete explanation and understanding of emotional exhaustion in nursing is achieved when emotional annoyance and resilience is measured in addition elements of burnout, which include professional efficiency and cynicism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GURKOVÁ E., ČÁP J., ŽIAKOVÁ K. & ĎURIŠKOVÁ M. (2011) Job satisfaction and emotional subjective well-being among Slovak nurses. International Nursing Review 59, 94-100 Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate job satisfaction and emotional subjective well-being and the correlations between these two constructs among Slovak nurses. Design: A cross-sectional survey was used to investigate this relationship among nurses ( n = 104) working in seven public hospitals in Slovakia. Methods: Data were collected using a set of questionnaires that included the questionnaire to measure job satisfaction, the Positive Affect Scale, the Negative Affect Scale and a demographics form. Findings: Findings of this study confirmed some general satisfying and dissatisfying elements for the nursing profession across different clinical specialties and different cultures. The results also indicate that there is a positive correlation between positive emotions and job satisfaction of Slovak nurses. Conclusion: The paper has drawn attention to the job satisfaction and emotional well-being among nurses. Further studies in this field, extended to different countries, work settings and nursing specialties, may help to improve subjective well-being of nurses. Study limitations: Participants came from a limited number of hospitals in Slovakia. A larger sample from different hospitals in Slovakia could have enhanced the generalizability of the results and increased the power of the study to detect significant differences and associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DOMAJNKO B. & PAHOR M. Mistrust of academic knowledge among nurses in Slovenia. International Nursing Review 57, 305–311 Aim: The paper discusses the negative attitudes of some nursing assistants in Slovenia towards higher nursing education and academic (theoretical and research based) knowledge. Background: The topic is discussed in the context of traditional hierarchical and patriarchal relations in the health-care sector, professionalization of nursing and the evidence-based debate in nursing. Methods: A secondary analysis of data gathered in 2005 was carried out. The topic of the original research was the interprofessional collaboration between medical and nursing care professionals in Slovenia. The secondary study looked closely into the relations within nursing care. Specifically it focused on the nursing assistants' perspective. Five hundred ninety-two answer to two open-end questions (307 from nurses and 285 from nursing assistants) and five semi-structured interviews (with three nurses and two nursing assistants) were re-analyzed (with the new focus), applying inductive qualitative content analysis and the pragmatic approach to interpretation. Findings: In nursing assistants' view, the difference between themselves and graduate nurses was described in terms of the distinction ‘work – non-work’. Higher education was associated primarily with striving for higher social status. Academic knowledge was not perceived to include the right competencies for either practising or improving the quality of nursing care. Conclusions: The mistrust of the academic nurse on the part of some nursing assistants is interpreted as a barrier to full professionalization of nursing care and also interprofessional collaboration in the health-care sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]