IRAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH JOURNAL
Year:2011 | Volume:7 | Issue:4|Papers Count:11

Background and aims: Job burnout is one of the syndromes which is known by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and deterioration of job performance. Due to the negative impact this syndrome on patients, employees, and organization in healthcare settings this issue has drawn attention of many researchers to itself during recent years. Despite the large number of publications in this area however, limited attention has been paid to the factors influencing job burnout. The goal of the present study was to determine the level of job burnout and impacts of job rotation on nurses burnout in Ayatollah Kashani hospital, Tehran.Methods: In order to do this research a historical cohort study was done to determine degree of job burnout among nurses with and without job rotation in Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in Tehran. The number for nurses with job rotation was (n=59) and without job rotation (n=29). Data was collected via a self-report ques tionnaire. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to assess the job burnout of the subjects.Results: The overall findings revealed that nurses had low level of emotional exhaustion, low level of depersonalization and middle level of declining in personal accomplishment. No significant difference was observed between the job burnout of the tow group of nurses - with and without rotation. In comparing the level of job burnout among the nurses of different wards (i.e. between wards comparison) the findings revealed that nurses of the emergency ward, had higher rate of depersonalization (P=0.012).Conclusion: The nurses burnout showed to be at the medium level with respect to the personal accomplishment subscale, which seems to require a managerial intervention in this hospital. Apparently job rotation as it is done currently has no significant impact on the nurses’ job burnout in Ayatollah Kashani hospital and these researchers suggest that other alternative approaches to be consider to be used to improve personal accomplishment and to decrease job burnout among the investigated nurses.

Background and aims: In the most chemical process industries, workers are exposed to various chemicals and working with these chemicals without considering safety and health considerations can lead to different harmful symptoms. For deciding about control measures and reducing risk to acceptable level, it is necessary to assess the health risk of exposing to harmful chemicals by aid of specific risk assessment techniques in the process industries. The purpose of this study was to assess the health risks arising from the exposures to chemicals in a petrochemical industry.methods: A simple and applied method was used for health risk assessment of chemicals in a petrochemical industry. Firstly job tasks and work process were determined and then different chemicals in each tasks identified and risk ranking was calculated in each job task by aid of hazard and exposure rate.Results: The result showed that workers are exposed to 10 chemicals including Methyl ethyl ketone, Epichlorohydrin, Sulfuric acid, Phenol, Chlorobenzene, Toluene, Isopropanol, Methylene chloride, Chlorideric Acid and Acetone during their work in plant. From these chemicals, the highest risk level was for Epichlorohydrin in the jobs of tank and utility operations and maintenance workers. The next high risk level was for Epichlorohydrin in technical inspecting and Methyl ethyl ketone in Tank and utility operations operator.Conclusion: Hazard information and monitoring data of chemical agents in the chemical industries can be used for assessing health risks from exposures to chemicals and ranking jobs by their risk level. These data can be used for resource allocation for control measures and reducing risk level to acceptable level.

Background and aims: The Medical Errors and the potential unsafe actions are always regarded as a serious trouble by the managers and health care providers. Using the employees' attitude data as a measurement criterion in the evaluation of the hospitals performance in the field of the “Safety” can improve the safety level among the personnel and patients. Survey of employees' attitude about safety and its comparison with different groups of offering health services in a teaching Hospital was the main objective of present study.Methods: In order to specify patient safety culture in Moddares hospital, all employees including physicians, nurses, managers and employees of Para-clinic, a volume sample consisting of 212 persons were selected. Then it was used from questionnaire of safety attitude within 6 dimensions including Teamwork climate, Safety climate, perceptions of Management, Job Satisfaction, Working Conditions and Stress Recognition. At first this questionnaire was gone under assessing validity and trust. The scale of measuring, Likert was 5 grades. In order to specify difference between groups under study it was used from ANOVA test.Results: Positive safety culture within 6 dimensions including Teamwork Climate, Safety climate, Job Satisfaction, Stress Recognition, Perception of Management, Working Conditions for doctors were 3, 4.13, 17.4, 0, 4.3, and 8.7 respectively; the aforesaid Dimensions for nurses were 19, 2.6, 10.3, 7.8, 2.6 and 15.5 respectively, the aforesaid Dimensions for managers were 30.3, 6.1, 33.3, 0, 18.2 and 21.2 respectively and the aforesaid Dimensions for employees of Para-clinic Were 50, 12.5, 25, 12.5, 10 and 37.5 respectively. There was Significant difference from View Point of statistics (p<0.5) from Dimensions of Job satisfaction among managers and nurses, employees of Para-clinic and nurses this difference Were zero and 0.001. From View Point of Stress recognition among managers and employees of Para-clinic, managers and nurses, employees of Para-clinic and doctors were 0.062, 0.022 and 0.047 and from View Point of Perceptions of management the level of this difference among managers and nurses was 0.002. Meanwhile all employees under study had similar View Point toward teamwork Climate, safety Climate and Working Conditions.Conclusion: It recommended that health services managers and employees improve patient safety culture in their organizations and in order to can use of: to show senior leadership's willingness to safety, developing a system for event reporting and improving teamwork.

Background and Aims: Nursing students such as health care workers are at risk of needle stick/sharps injuries. However, little attention has been paid by researchers to this topic. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency, causes and practice of nursing students in contaminated needle stick/sharps injuries.Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in Arak University of Medical Sciences in 2009. 227 nursing students were participated in study. A questionnaire, consisting two sections of demographic information and questions about exposure to needle stick/sharps injuries was completed by students.Results: 70% and 43% of the subjects had experienced at least one contaminated NSIs in total education period and the past 12 months, respectively. The average number of injuries per student was 1.02 times/student/year. Approximately 40 percent of the injuries were not reported to the clinical educator. The first action after incidents in 51.6 % of the subjects was squeezing the wound. After incidents, 64.22 % tracking patients’ tests for blood-borne pathogens and 10% of the subjects did not perform any action following incidents.Conclusion: Needle stick/sharps injuries were highly prevalent in nursing students. More education programs should be directed at students to increase their awareness of about needle stick/sharps injuries and about the actions after the incident.

Background and aims: Shiftwork that affects diverse aspects of human life is arranged in various schedules, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. This study was carried out with the objectives of determination of common 12-hour shift schedules in petrochemical plants, comparison of shift work health-related problems among employees working in different shift schedules and recommendation of appropriate shift schedule for decrement of related health problems.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at 8 petrochemical plants in Asalooyeh region related to National Petrochemical Industries in which 12-hour shift schedules were applied. Study population consisted of 549 shift workers with age mean of 29.83±5.75 years. Data on personal details, shift schedule and adverse health effects of shiftwork (i.e. gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, psychological, sleep etc. disorders) were collected by anonymous questionnaire.Results: Among 549 studied shift employees, 39.6% worked in 4N-7D-3N-7Res (4night-7day-3night-7rest), 29.1% in 7N-7D-7Res and 31.3% in 7D-7N-7Res schedules. Statistical comparison showed that the prevalence of h ealth problems such as gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders among 7D-7N-7Res schedule shiftworkers were significantly higher than that of other schedules (p<0.05). Furthermore, the results revealed that the prevalence rates of health problems among 4N-7D-3N-7Res schedule shift workers were higher than 7N-7D-7Res schedule workers, but the differences were not significant (p>0.05).Conclusion: Prevalence of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders in all schedules were high, but odds ratios of all problems among 7D-7N-7Res schedule shiftworkers were significantly more than those of the shiftworkers of the other schedules. This schedule should, therefore, be changed to decrease related-health problems. Fixed 14D/14N schedule may be an appropriate substitution.

Background and aims: Despite the fact that work is the major part of human life and the source of satisfying the sense of idealism, innovation and the feeling of consent in the individual, but it is one of the most important factors of creating stress in today's societies. One of the most efficient methods of interfering in stress inoculation group training (SIT). The aim of the present research is the investigation of the efficacy of the stress inoculation group training (SIT) on reducing career stress of employees of Razak Co.'s employees.Methods: this study is an intermediary study and the research method is experimental of pretest and posttest type with control group. 46 of subjects whose score in career stress test was above the average score were selected as sample, and were replaced in simple random way in two groups of test and control. 8-session test group of 1.5 hours each received team immunity training against stress. Both groups were tested and evaluated three times at the same time (pretest, posttest and follow up).Results: after adjusting the posttest scores based on pretest scores, the results of one-way covariance pretest showed that stress inoculation group training (SIT) had a meaningful influence on reduction of career stress on employees. Also the results of multivariable covariance analysis (Mankoa) showed that this effect existed in every component of career stress, i.e. exceeding accountability, responsibility of others, very high working pressure, decision making that influences the others, and understanding of self as an individual not quite competent and qualified. In follow up studies after one month, the results showed that stress inoculation group training (SIT) has a stable influence on reduction of career stress and it components.Conclusion: on the base of the obtained findings from research and effectiveness from the stress inoculation group training (SIT), it is recommended to apply this therapeutic approach in all industrial and organizational centers as an effective therapeutic approach to reduce career stress and increase organizational productivity.

Background and Aims: Tools for evaluation of code discomfort are tools that can be used for the prevention of musculoskeletal discomfort in industrial settings. Musculoskeletal disorders are serious health cancern in the developed world. The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) that are designed to evaluate the musculoskeletal disorders by the time being, are translate in diverse languages and being implemented in many coun tries. However, CMDQ is not translated into Persian language in Iran. The aim of this study was to translate, accridate and validated the CMDQ in Persian version in order to implementation of this tool in Iran and to establish the standard tool for ergonomic research.Methods: This analytical study was performed to determine the validity and reliability of translated Persian version of the CMDQ for implementation in steel industrial settings. In order to implement this tool for Iranian workers, the Farsi version of the CMDQ was prepared using the Forward-Backward translation method. Then the translated version of the questionnaire was distribute between 100 of workers in Kashan city of steel industries in a randomized manner. In order to determine the validity for the severity of discomfort, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was completed by all workers. The reliability of the questionnaire was determined using Cronbach’s alpha Coefficient.Results: In order to analysis the validity of the questionnaire for the severity of the pain and discomfort the Kappa coefficient was implemented and for the frequency of pain and discomfort the Spearman correlation coefficient was used. However, in order to analysis the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha Coefficient 0.986 were determined. The Cronbach’s alpha Coefficient for all three sections of frequency of discomfort, severity of discomfort and interference scales were determined 0.955, 0.961, 0.969 respectively.Conclusion: The Farsi version of the CMDQ is the appropriate tool for investigation of the level of musculoskeletal disorders in Iranian workers that can be used as a part of ergonomic research and Health surveillance programs in order to prevent the musculoskeletal disorders.