1. Challenges to well-being in critical care.
- Author
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Shaw, Rachel L., Morrison, Rachael, Webb, Sarah, Balogun, Omobolanle, Duncan, Heather P., and Butcher, Isabelle
- Subjects
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JOB stress prevention , *PEDIATRIC nursing , *PEDIATRIC nurses , *WORK , *NURSE supply & demand , *TEAMS in the workplace , *PSYCHOLOGICAL resilience , *SAFETY , *INTENSIVE care nursing , *RESEARCH funding , *PSYCHOLOGICAL burnout , *PSYCHOLOGICAL distress , *MEDICAL quality control , *WORK environment , *INTERVIEWING , *LEADERSHIP , *OCCUPATIONAL health services , *JUDGMENT sampling , *REFLECTION (Philosophy) , *PATIENT care , *NURSING , *PEDIATRICS , *THEMATIC analysis , *ETHICS , *WORKING hours , *INTENSIVE care units , *NURSES' attitudes , *RESEARCH , *COMMUNICATION , *AGING , *NEEDS assessment , *SOCIAL support , *CRITICAL care nurses , *WELL-being , *EXPERIENTIAL learning , *EMPLOYEES' workload , *SHIFT systems - Abstract
Background: Paediatric critical care (PCC) is a high-pressure working environment. Staff experience high levels of burnout, symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and moral distress. Aim: To understand challenges to workplace well-being in PCC to help inform the development of staff interventions to improve and maintain well-being. Study Design: The Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (ECIT) was used. ECIT encompasses semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. We identified 'critical incidents', challenges to well-being, categorized them in a meaningful way, and identified factors which helped and hindered in those moments. Fifty-three nurses and doctors from a large UK quaternary PCC unit were consented to take part. Results: Themes generated are: Context of working in PCC, which examined staff's experiences of working in PCC generally and during COVID-19; Patient care and moral distress explored significant challenges to well-being faced by staff caring for increasingly complex and chronically ill patients; Teamwork and leadership demonstrated the importance of team-belonging and clear leadership; Changing workforce explored the impact of staffing shortages and the ageing workforce on well-being; and Satisfying basic human needs, which identified absences in basic requirements of food and rest. Conclusions: Staff's experiential accounts demonstrated a clear need for psychologically informed environments to enable the sharing of vulnerabilities, foster support, and maintain workplace well-being. Themes resonated with the self-determination theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which outline requirements for fulfilment (self-actualization). Relevance to Clinical Practice: Well-being interventions must be informed by psychological theory and evidence. Recommendations are flexible rostering, advanced communication training, psychologically-informed support, supervision/mentoring training, adequate accommodation and hot food. Investment is required to develop successful interventions to improve workplace well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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