Changes in working conditions for home healthcare workers and impacts on their work activity and on their emotions
Weerdt, Corinne Van De; Baratta, René
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0103-6513.108412
Production, vol.25, n2, p.344-353, 2015
Abstract
Home healthcare is steadily growing in many countries. Nevertheless, it is known that home healthcare workers are frequently exposed to a variety of potentially serious occupational hazards. Working conditions have changed to become more emotionally and physically demanding on workers. Emotional labor is increasingly high in this profession. Time pressure is increasingly common. This paper describes an ergonomic study analyzing the working conditions of nursing assistants and nurses, as well as the impacts of their work in terms of job satisfaction, emotions at work, relationships with the others, and occupational stress. The study shows that changing working conditions are making it increasingly difficult for home healthcare workers to do their work properly. We can confirm that such workers use strategies to try to cope. They use individual strategies to preserve the relational dimension of their work activity. These strategies are specifically centered around preserving the relationships with patients, and coping with the demands of the job. The study also shows that workers use strategies to express emotions and to conceal them from others. Finally, the paper presents the recommendations that were discussed with the manager and workers for improving working conditions and that led to practical proposals: e.g. implementing certain items of equipment better suited to difficult care, encouraging assistance between workers when operations so require through appropriate organizational measures, extending emotion-focused work discussion groups with management involvement.
Keywords
Emotion. Home healthcare. Job satisfaction. Occupational stress. Workplace.
References
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Pugh, S. D. (2001). Service with a smile: emotional contagion in the service encounter. Academy of Management Journal, 44(5), 1018-1027. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3069445
Totterdell P., & Holman, D. (2003). Emotion regulation in customer service roles: testing a model of emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 8(1), 55- 73. PMid:12553529. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1076- 8998.8.1.55
Waters, T., Collins, J., Galinsky, T., & Caruso, C. (2006). NIOSH research efforts to prevent musculoskeletal disorders in the healthcare industry. Orthopaedic Nursing, 25(6), 380-389. PMid:17130760. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00006416- 200611000-00007
Zapf, D. (2002). Emotion work and psychological well-being: a review of the literature and some conceptual considerations. Human Resource Management Review, 12(2), 237-268. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1053-4822(02)00048-7
Barsade, S. G. (2002). The ripple effect: emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(4), 644-675. http://dx.doi. org/10.2307/3094912
Bureau of Labor Statistics - BLS. (2008). Career guide to industries: health care, 2008-2009. Washington: U.S. Department of Labor.
Bureau of Labor Statistics - BLS. (2012). Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work in 2011. Washington: U.S. Department of Labor.
Canton, A. N., Sherman, M. F., Magda, L. A., Westra, L. J., Pearson, J. M., Raveis, V. H., & Gershon, R. R. (2009). Violence, job satisfaction, and employment intentions among home healthcare registered nurses. Home Healthcare Nurse, 27(6), 364-373. PMid:19509522. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.NHH.0000356828.27090. bd
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health - NIOSH. (2010). Niosh Hazard Review: occupational hazards in home healthcare (Publication No. 2010-125). Atlanta.
El-Askari E., & DeBaun, B. (1999). The occupational hazards of home health care. In W. Charney & G. Fragala (Eds.), The epidemic of health care worker injury. Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 201-213.
Estryn-Béhar, M., Van der Heijden, B., Oginska, H., Camerino, D., Le Nézet, O., Conway, P. M., Fry, C., Hasselhorn, H. M., & NEXT Study Group. (2007). The impact of social work environment, teamwork characteristics, burnout, and personal factors upon intent to leave among European nurses. Medical Care, 45(10), 939-950. PMid:17890991. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0b013e31806728d8
Gershon, R. R., Magda, L. A., Canton, A. N., Riley, H. E., Wiggins, F., Young, W., & Sherman, M. F. (2010). Pandemic-related ability and willingness in home healthcare workers. American Journal of Disaster Medicine, 5(1), 15-26. PMid:20349699. http://dx.doi. org/10.5055/ajdm.2010.0002
Gershon, R. R., Dailey, M., Magda, L. A., Riley, H. E., Conolly, J., & Silver, A. (2008). Safety in the home healthcare sector: development of a new household safety checklist. Journal of Patient Safety, 8(2), 51-59. PMid:22543362. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PTS.0b013e31824a4ad6
Grandey, A. A. (2003). When “the show must go on”: surface acting and deep acting as determinants of emotional exhaustion and peer-rated service delivery. Academy of Management Journal, 46(1), 86-96. http://dx.doi. org/10.2307/30040678
Guérin, F., Laville, A., Daniellou, F., Duraffourg, J., & Kerguelen, A. (2007). Understanding and transforming work: the practice of ergonomics. France: ANACT. Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. L., & Rapson, R. L. (1993). Emotional contagion. Current Directions in Psychological Sciences, 2(3), 96-99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467- 8721.ep10770953
Hochschild, A. (1993). Preface. In S. Fineman (Ed.), Emotions in organizations. London: Sage. p. ii-xii.
Hochschild, A. (1983). The managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley: University of California Press. PMid:6218886.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer Publishing Company. Leplat, J., & Cuny, X. (1977). Introduction à la psychologie du travail. Paris: PUF.
Leplat, J., & Terssac, G. (1990). Les facteurs humains de la fiabilité dans les systèmes complexes. Toulouse: Octarès Éditions.
Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: implications for job design. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(2), 285-308. http://dx.doi. org/10.2307/2392498
Meissner A., Hasselhorn, H. M., Estryn-Behar, M., Nézet, O., Pokorski, J., & Gould, D. (2007). Nurses’ perception of shift handovers in Europe: results from the european nurses’ early exit study. Journal of Advanced
Nursing, 57(5), 535-542. PMid:17284273. http://dx.doi. org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.04144.x
Owen, B. (2003). Decreasing back stress in home care. Home Healthcare Nurse, 21(3), 180-186. PMid:12637824. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004045-200303000-00014
Parsons, K., Galinsky, T., & Waters, T. (2006). Suggestions for preventing musculoskeletal disorders in home health care workers. Part 1. Home Healthcare Nurse, 24(3), 159-164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004045-200603000-00008
Pugh, S. D. (2001). Service with a smile: emotional contagion in the service encounter. Academy of Management Journal, 44(5), 1018-1027. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3069445
Totterdell P., & Holman, D. (2003). Emotion regulation in customer service roles: testing a model of emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 8(1), 55- 73. PMid:12553529. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1076- 8998.8.1.55
Waters, T., Collins, J., Galinsky, T., & Caruso, C. (2006). NIOSH research efforts to prevent musculoskeletal disorders in the healthcare industry. Orthopaedic Nursing, 25(6), 380-389. PMid:17130760. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00006416- 200611000-00007
Zapf, D. (2002). Emotion work and psychological well-being: a review of the literature and some conceptual considerations. Human Resource Management Review, 12(2), 237-268. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1053-4822(02)00048-7
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