NUR027-2/APP048 - Workplace Stress in the Healthcare Sector Assignment Sample

Introduction Of&Workplace Stress in the Healthcare Sector: A Mixed Methods Approach

The provided article for the following context refers to the increasing job stress among NHS employees in the UK. Job stress is considered a harmful physical and emotional response by the employees that generally occurs due to not meeting job requirements and matching capabilities using resources or the identification of needs of workers (Mawardi, 2022). This factor is capable of leading to poor health and even injury among employees while decreasing their overall performance. Besides, stress level is considered to be valid between professional and population groups and the impact of workplace stress affects employees both physically and psychosocially (Barkley, 2023). Physical stress factors of employees referred to high noise for lighting conditions and four laying out of working premises and economic factors including bad working postures (Rymaniak et al. 2019). This is followed by the psychosocial stressing factors including predominant work pressure, high job requirements, inflexible working hours and controlling job nature, poor work design alongside employee bullying, harassment and the presence of constant job insecurities (Dodanwala et al. 2022).

Need a helping hand to polish your assignments? Look no further than New Assignment Help! Our dedicated team offers premium assignment writing services in the UK, tailored to meet your specific requirements. Explore our free assignment samples for inspiration and guidance.

The NHS is considered the publicly funded health care system in England and is part of one of four health services systems in the country (Pandit, 2022). Approximately 1.2 million full time equivalent staff are currently working under the organisations in the clinical setting and among them 44.8% of the healthcare staff have reported to feel under pressure while dealing with work related stress (Barkley, 2023). It also includes high statistics of absent employees in the NHS of daily attendance due to the presence of sickness and facing higher than average stress sickness absenteeism in competition with other job sectors in the UK.

The provided research paper on the NHS staff and their work stress is generally managed by using a mixed method study process and identifying the specific stress factors such as working conditions, psychological well-being, job satisfaction and presenteeism among healthcare staff (Khan et al. 2022). This is followed by addressing the impact of high stress on employee’s performance in the form of error in work, lower working capabilities, high mental health issues, employee burnout and excessive conflict in the working environment. Apart from that employee turnover rate alongside low employee engagement and absenteeism regarding employee sickness are also discussed here.

Ethics and sampling

Ethical consideration in the research will be considered a setup principle that helps researchers to manage the overall design and practices (Cash et al. 2022). This factor consists of voluntary participation and informed consent maintaining anonymity and confidentiality with the aim of protecting from potential harmful factors and a clear communication. Ethical considerations are used in the field of research in terms of protecting dignity rights and welfare of research participants (Qasim et al. 2022). This is followed by upholding ethical standards by the research committee where human participants are associated. The five significant ethical concepts that are implied in case of research process referred to the autonomy, justice and beneficence and nonmaleficence and fidelity (Wang et al. 2022). These principles are used in the research process with the aim of achieving better outcomes and understanding while reducing the chances of conflict issues. The primary concept of maintaining ethics in research is done to reduce possible issues for the community and environment while completing the study process.

In the following context on the basis of working stress on the NHS employees, both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in the form of semi structured interview and survey methods repetitively by taking permission from Bath Spa research ethics committee (Ravalier et al. 2020). While managing ethical standards for qualitative research methods, each participant was asked verbally to provide consent before continuing with the telephonic interview process. This is followed by using a first come first serve interview process while keeping the data collection and analysis processes separate. This reduces the chance of leaking interview questions alongside mixing up information or exposing anonymity of the participants. Apart from that, a debrief form of the interview version has been sent for the participants in terms of minimising the risk of miscommunication (Ravalier et al. 2020). In addition, the interviewers presented themselves in a professional manner while keeping in mind to avoid asking personal opinions or being overly friendly while going through the process (Trieu and Baym, 2020). This is followed by clarifying the purpose of the study process and minimising the chance of misinterpretation of answers checked to maintain transparency and analytical transparency (Hassan et al. 2022). On the other hand, in the case of quantitative survey methods, ethical standards were maintained by collecting consent forms. Besides, practising honesty and maintaining integrity of the overall research was maintained while conducting quantitative survey methods (Hennink and Kaiser, 2022).

The sample size for quantitative methods was 1645 and the interview method includes 33 individuals while conducting the overall research process (Ravalier et al. 2020). The interview process was done by identifying a non-probability sampling process and the survey method has lied with probability sampling technique. While the former process of sampling relies on the identification of units from population by using a non-random concept, the latter one is based on identifying populations with randomness in terms of achieving a desired outcome (Rahman et al. 2022). The advantage of non-probability sampling is that it is easy to use and more cost effective in comparison with probability sampling (Lehdonvirta et al. 2021); this is more likely to be biassed about the population. Besides, probability sampling is time effective and lacking of biases, however, this is a complex process in comparison with the non-probability sampling (Pace, 2021).

Data Collection

Collection of accurate information is considered a significant step in the research process with the aim of making informed decisions, while ensuring quality assurance and maintaining research integrity (HR and Aithal, 2022). It also includes ensuring the collection of information in an accurate form and making subsequent decisions based on analysing the collected information (Osamy et al. 2022). It also increases research efficiency in terms of eliminating doubt in the research process and accessing suitable outcomes in regards to the research process. There are two significant types of methods implied in terms of collecting primary and secondary data and those are qualitative methods and quantitative methods of data collection (Mazhar et al. 2021). The following study has implied a quantitative method of data collection in the form of survey process and a qualitative method in the form of semi structured interview process while collecting information on the stress level present in the NHS employees and its impact on their performance. Both of these methods are implied with the aim of accessing an in-depth exploratory and confirmatory research in the field of the healthcare setting (Ravalier et al. 2020). The first method is implied by asking for a verbal consent from the participants and conducted in terms of managing the first come first serve process for the interview. Participants for the interview process were sent invitations by using staff email which were generated by the research team while aiming to connect with the senior management of the healthcare setting. The interview was conducted for 45 minutes and is considered a flexible process in terms of collecting information. The flexibility of this process is considered a significant step for the research process that helps in posing for new questions on the basis of the requirement (Whang et al. 2022). This flexible nature of the data collection process by interview makes it a superior technique in terms of exploring the areas of participant’s interest to collect in-depth information. This is followed by collecting detailed information while providing greater attention to an individual's point of view regarding the research context. However, the overall process is considered time consuming and only 33 people could be interviewed during the conduction of this study which impacted the data by preventing the findings from being extrapolated (Ovcharenko et al. 2019). Besides, there is always a chance of individual biases and transcription gaps that lead to improper data analysis and the overall outcome (Ravalier et al. 2020).

On the other hand, the quantitative method in the form of a survey process was conducted by sending an email to the potential participants 2 weeks before the survey date and the front page contained a detailed consent form for the participants (Ravalier et al. 2020). The participants were reminded after a week regarding the survey process and their answers were collected by using a software name Qualtrics. The advantages of using survey method refers to the easy administration, less time consuming and cost-effective process while including a large number of population (Klem et al. 2022). However, this process is flexible to manage study design and is considered not ideal for accessing potential depth of the subject (Rozanova et al. 2021).

Data analysis

After the collection of information regarding the identified subject on the basis of stress in NHS employees, the next stage is a data analysis process done by two significant methods. In the case of collecting information by using a quantitative method of survey process, information was analysed by implying statistical processes including IBM SPSS 24.0 (Ravalier et al. 2020). The implementation of statistical aspects helps in analysing information by identifying mean, median and standard deviation while pointing out the frequency of the information in regards to the research subject (Smith et al. 2022). The use of statistical software is considered significant in terms of preparing and analysing the collected information while using an intuitive interface. This factor is effective in terms of addressing the codes in an easy way which is helpful for the data analysis process (Zarezadeh et al. 2022). Apart from this, the integration of collected information is done by using open sources with the aim of enhancing the quality of information. It also includes the implementation of advanced statistical tools with the intention of generating tabulated reports in regards to the research subject (Ma and Xu, 2022). The involved researchers for the following case study have compared the information with the existing information and the UK benchmark. These are considered impactful that includes regression analysis of the collected information while shedding light on the several working conditions for the healthcare staff (Ravalier et al. 2020). These conditions have a strong influence on the stress and psychological aspects of the involved population (Brooks et al. 2020).

On the other hand, for the collected qualitative information, thematic analysis is conducted by using the steps of Braun and Clark model (Ravalier et al. 2020). The fundamental aspect of using thematic analysis refers to the development of themes by identifying the specific patterns present in the information alongside developing themes on the basis of answering research questions (Braun and Clarke, 2023). The overall process of analysing information refers to an accessible form of data analysis while enhancing the chance of meeting desired outcome after the completion of the research context. It also helps the researchers to access the salient significance of the collected information while pointing out the underlying phenomenon. The qualitative part of information was analysed using N-Vivo software for managing transcription and for generating themes and subthemes (Ravalier et al. 2020).

Reliability and validity are considered significant components in measuring research context (Ntanos et al. 2019) while reliability highlights the consistency of the measurements (Elliott et al. 2020). Validity refers to the accuracy of measurements and impact on the research process while representing the potential measurements (Chetwynd, 2022). While reliability refers to the consistency and stability of the research variable measurement scale it also separates research phenomena which have impact on the research outcome. Besides, the stability factor refers to the internal consistency and equivalence which shades lights on the research measurements which are intended to vary for accessing desired outcome (Krieglstein et al. 2022). The rigour of quality process in research effects on the understanding of reliability while using research concept and validity for maintaining the quality (Chetwynd, 2022).

Findings

The responsive rate for the given research context refers to approximately 14.5% and highlighted the answers by employees regarding working environment stress while dealing with the patient care process (Ravalier et al. 2020). While using the demographic questions participants were able to fulfil the criteria without missing any information and that helps in identification of results. From the oral result it was identified that most of the employees were agreed to address the maximum working hour which has exceeded the average working hour per week as were the UK regulation and that is 3.7 to 7.2 hours excess per week working hours (Ravalier et al. 2020). On the other hand, it can also be addressed that the UK average working hours in a week refers to the 48 hours for any person over 16 years (Nhsstaffsurveys, 2023). It was also identified that the presence of higher stress is showcased by using standard deviation while analysing statistical information and it explains the presence of high workload for all the employees irrespective of their job roles in the UK. Apart from that, it was also found that the psychological well-being of an average employee is also below the standard in the country in terms of addressing satisfactions of job roles and absenteeism. This factor refers to the presence of approximately 42.1% absent employees due to not being well both physically and psychologically in the UK (McMunn et al. 2020).

In addition, it can also be stated that from the overall study it was also identified the three significant factors that impact on workplace stress. This refers to the working environment and communications with colleagues and maintaining work relationships (Yu et al. 2022). These factors are effective to address statistical values on employee detention and the level of employee performance to meet the organisation's objectives in the comparative market in healthcare setting. Employee wellbeing is interconnected with their high input and low level of absenteeism. The presence of factors including work pressure and anxiety stress impact the physical and psychological welding of employees and further affect their performance at the workplace (Jämsen et al. 2022). In the case of NHS employees, the stress factor refers to the huge workload and changing healthcare policies, meeting patient's requirements and low support from the organisation. This impacts on their performance and productivity while managing workload in the health care setting. The relationship among employees while taking care of patience also influences their well-being and performance in the healthcare sector. This includes relationships with line managers and understanding the management of workload and issues without affecting employees (Yu et al. 2022). Apart from that, relationships with teammates and colleagues also provide a great support to the employees which manages to maintain a positive environment in the working sector and is considered a key source for encouragement while dealing with the care system. In addition, communications in the form of bottom up and top to down strategies impact on changing poor communications with management and transparent communications without affecting staff well-being (Beckel and Fisher, 2022).

Application to Practise

The following research paper has successfully addressed the workplace stress among NHS employees by impacting their mental health alongside increased chance of anxiety, burnout depression and other psychological disorders. These stress factors in the form of no break workload, heavy workload, high job insecurity alongside issues with supervisor and colleagues’ impact on the employee performance which refers to the decreasing job performance and mental health issues alongside low employee retention for the organisation (De Kock et al. 2022). However, this factor also shades light on the possibility of engaging and healthy behaviours such as smoking, drinking drug addictions and improper management of dietary patterns (Beckel and Fisher, 2022). In addition, it can also be stated that the adverse influence of work stress also influences the employees to seek for social support alongside wishful thinking and avoidance of problems in comparison with solving issues. The decreasing performance capabilities of staff in the healthcare seating have an adverse impact on reducing healthcare demand and staff enrolment in the care setting process (Lamb et al. 2022).

On the other hand, there are several strategies that can be used in terms of reducing stress factors in the working environment. This refers to encouraging workplace wellness alongside revamping the habits of employees regarding workload and the presence of flexible working hours and the opportunity of remote working and encouraging employees for social activities (Lamb et al. 2022). Apart from that, encouraging employees to openly communicate with supervisor colleagues and organisations to offer mental and physical health benefits helps employees to deal with high workplace stress. This is followed by providing comfortable shifting and adequate patient care while notifying employees to deal with the changes are capable of reducing overall turnover rate and absenteeism among staff (De Kock et al. 2022). These practices are capable of improving the overall situations while increasing physical activity and job satisfaction among employees which lead to the reduction of workplace stress among employees.

The NHS has already started programming and strategies over the reduction of workplace stress among its employees (Anderson et al. 2021). This includes identifying the science of stress alongside identifications of processes to manage the behaviour and impact on the employees (De Kock et al. 2022). This is followed by demonstrating the implementation of the partnership working approach as the stress reduction and risk assessment process. This is capable of impacting the health and well-being of employees in the health care setting while positively improving their psychological state (Nhsemployers.org, 2023). The guidance team consists of executive and non-executive board level members under the NHS people plan 2020 and 2021 to provide a safe and healthy working environment as priority (Nhsemployers.org, 2023). It also includes not then Ireland under the health and social care work strategy by 2026 to support healthcare staff while delivering quality care.

Conclusion

In terms of concluding the overall context it can be stated that the identified research paper has successfully addressed different stress factors for employees while working under the Health Care sector. It discussed the conduction of mixed methods in terms of accessing and analysing information by managing ethical aspects for staff from the NHS. It also includes the use of a survey and semi structured interview process to collect information and analyse it for further process. It was also found that workplace stress not only impacts the employees personally, it has an immense effect on their job performance which directly affects the company's growth.

References

• Anderson, M., O'Neill, C., Clark, J.M., Street, A., Woods, M., Johnston-Webber, C., Charlesworth, A., Whyte, M., Foster, M., Majeed, A. and Pitchforth, E., 2021. Securing a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UK health and care workforce. The Lancet, 397(10288), pp.1992-2011.
• Barkley. S. 2023., “NHS workforce: Record numbers of doctors and nurses in NHS” Available at: https://healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2023/04/27/nhs-workforce-record-numbers-of-doctors-and-nurses-in-nhs/ [Accessed on 24th May 2023]
• Beckel, J.L. and Fisher, G.G., 2022. Telework and worker health and well-being: A review and recommendations for research and practice. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7), p.3879.
• Braun, V. and Clarke, V., 2023. Toward good practice in thematic analysis: Avoiding common problems and be (com) ing a knowledgeable researcher. International Journal of Transgender Health, 24(1), pp.1-6.
• Brooks, S.K., Webster, R.K., Smith, L.E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N. and Rubin, G.J., 2020. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The lancet, 395(10227), pp.912-920.
• Cash, P., Isaksson, O., Maier, A. and Summers, J., 2022. Sampling in design research: Eight key considerations. Design studies, 78, p.101077.
• Chetwynd, E., 2022. Critical analysis of reliability and validity in literature reviews. Journal of Human Lactation, 38(3), pp.392-396.
• De Kock, J.H., Latham, H.A., Cowden, R.G., Cullen, B., Narzisi, K., Jerdan, S., Muñoz, S.A., Leslie, S.J., McNamara, N., Boggon, A. and Humphry, R.W., 2022. The mental health of NHS staff during the COVID-19 pandemic: two-wave Scottish cohort study. BJPsych Open, 8(1), p.e23.
• Dodanwala, T.C., San Santoso, D. and Shrestha, P., 2022. The mediating role of work–family conflict on role overload and job stress linkage. Built Environment Project and Asset Management, (ahead-of-print).
• Elliott, M.L., Knodt, A.R., Ireland, D., Morris, M.L., Poulton, R., Ramrakha, S., Sison, M.L., Moffitt, T.E., Caspi, A. and Hariri, A.R., 2020. What is the test-retest reliability of common task-functional MRI measures? New empirical evidence and a meta-analysis. Psychological science, 31(7), pp.792-806.
• Hassan, S.M., Rahman, Z. and Paul, J., 2022. Consumer ethics: A review and research agenda. Psychology & Marketing, 39(1), pp.111-130.
• Hennink, M. and Kaiser, B.N., 2022. Sample sizes for saturation in qualitative research: A systematic review of empirical tests. Social Science & Medicine, 292, p.114523.
• HR, G. and Aithal, P.S., 2022. How to Choose an Appropriate Research Data Collection Method and Method Choice among Various Research Data Collection Methods and Method Choices During Ph. D. Program in India?. International Journal of Management, Technology, and Social Sciences (IJMTS), 7(2), pp.455-489.
• Jämsen, R., Sivunen, A. and Blomqvist, K., 2022. Employees’ perceptions of relational communication in full-time remote work in the public sector. Computers in Human Behavior, 132, p.107240.
• Khan, H., Abbas, J., Kumari, K. and Najam, H., 2022. Corporate level politics from managers and employees perspective and its impact on employees' job stress and job performance. Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, (ahead-of-print).
• Klem, N.R., Bunzli, S., Smith, A. and Shields, N., 2022. Demystifying Qualitative Research for Musculoskeletal Practitioners Part 4: A Qualitative Researcher's Toolkit—Sampling, Data Collection Methods, and Data Analysis. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 52(1), pp.8-10.
• Krieglstein, F., Beege, M., Rey, G.D., Ginns, P., Krell, M. and Schneider, S., 2022. A systematic meta-analysis of the reliability and validity of subjective cognitive load questionnaires in experimental multimedia learning research. Educational Psychology Review, 34(4), pp.2485-2541.
• Lamb, D., Gafoor, R., Scott, H., Carr, E., Stevelink, S., Raine, R., Hotopf, M., Greenberg, N., Hegarty, S., Madan, I. and Moran, P., 2022. Mental health of healthcare workers in England during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal cohort study. medRxiv, pp.2022-06.
• Lehdonvirta, V., Oksanen, A., Räsänen, P. and Blank, G., 2021. Social media, web, and panel surveys: using non?probability samples in social and policy research. Policy & internet, 13(1), pp.134-155.
• Ma, Q. and Xu, D., 2022. Deep learning shapes single-cell data analysis. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 23(5), pp.303-304.
• Mawardi, M.C., 2022. Alternative Work Arrangements, Work Environment, and Job Stress on Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention. Golden Ratio of Human Resource Management, 2(1), pp.27-39.
• Mazhar, S.A., Anjum, R., Anwar, A.I. and Khan, A.A., 2021. Methods of data collection: A fundamental tool of research. Journal of Integrated Community Health (ISSN 2319-9113), 10(1), pp.6-10.
• McMunn, A., Bird, L., Webb, E. and Sacker, A., 2020. Gender divisions of paid and unpaid work in contemporary UK couples. Work, Employment and Society, 34(2), pp.155-173.
• Nhsemployers.org. 2023., “Guidance on prevention and management of stress at work” Available at: https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/guidance-prevention-and-management-stress-work [Accessed on 20th April 2023]
• Nhsstaffsurveys. 2023., “NHS Staff Survey” Available at: https://www.nhsstaffsurveys.com/ [Accessed on 20th April 2023]
• Ntanos, S., Kyriakopoulos, G., Skordoulis, M., Chalikias, M. and Arabatzis, G., 2019. An application of the new environmental paradigm (NEP) scale in a Greek context. Energies, 12(2), p.239.
• Osamy, W., Khedr, A.M., Salim, A., AlAli, A.I. and El-Sawy, A.A., 2022. Recent studies utilising artificial intelligence techniques for solving data collection, aggregation and dissemination challenges in wireless sensor networks: a review. Electronics, 11(3), p.313.
• Ovcharenko, O., Kazei, V., Kalita, M., Peter, D. and Alkhalifah, T., 2019. Deep learning for low-frequency extrapolation from multioffset seismic dataDeep learning for low-frequency extrapolation. Geophysics, 84(6), pp.R989-R1001.
• Pace, D.S., 2021. Probability and non-probability sampling-an entry point for undergraduate researchers. International Journal of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods, 9(2), pp.1-15.
• Pandit, J.J., 2022. Modern monetary theory for the post-pandemic NHS: why budget deficits do not matter. British Journal of Healthcare Management, 28(1), pp.37-46.
• Qasim, M., Irshad, M., Majeed, M. and Rizvi, S.T.H., 2022. Examining impact of islamic work ethic on task performance: mediating effect of psychological capital and a moderating role of ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 180(1), pp.283-295.
• Rahman, M.M., Tabash, M.I., Salamzadeh, A., Abduli, S. and Rahaman, M.S., 2022. Sampling techniques (probability) for quantitative social science researchers: a conceptual guidelines with examples. Seeu Review, 17(1), pp.42-51.
• Ravalier, J.M., McVicar, A. and Boichat, C., 2020. Work stress in NHS employees: A mixed-methods study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(18), p.6464.
• Rozanova, S., Barkovits, K., Nikolov, M., Schmidt, C., Urlaub, H. and Marcus, K., 2021. Quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics: An overview. Quantitative Methods in Proteomics, pp.85-116..
• Rymaniak, J., Lis, K., Davidavi?ien?, V., Pérez-Pérez, M. and Martínez-Sánchez, Á., 2021. From stationary to remote: Employee risks at pandemic migration of workplaces. Sustainability, 13(13), p.7180.
• Smith, J., Braithwaite, J., O’Brien, T.A., Smith, S., Tyrrell, V.J., Mould, E.V., Long, J.C. and Rapport, F., 2022. Re-imagining the data collection and analysis research process by proposing a rapid qualitative data collection and analytic roadmap applied to the dynamic context of precision medicine. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, p.16094069221103097.
• Trieu, P. and Baym, N.K., 2020, April. Private responses for public sharing: understanding self-presentation and relational maintenance via stories in social media. In proceedings of the 2020 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1-13).
• Wang, Y.Y., Wang, Y.S. and Wang, Y.M., 2022. What drives students’ Internet ethical behaviour: an integrated model of the theory of planned behaviour, personality, and Internet ethics education. Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(3), pp.588-610.
• Whang, S.E., Roh, Y., Song, H. and Lee, J.G., 2023. Data collection and quality challenges in deep learning: A data-centric ai perspective. The VLDB Journal, pp.1-23.
• Yu, H.S., Lee, E.J. and Na, T.K., 2022. The mediating effects of work–life balance (WLB) and ease of using WLB programs in the relationship between WLB organizational culture and turnover intention. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), p.3482.
• Zarezadeh, Z.Z., Rastegar, R. and Xiang, Z., 2022. Big data analytics and hotel guest experience: a critical analysis of the literature. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.