EDITIING
Running head: WORK OVERLOAD 0
Work Overload
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Work overload
Work overload is a type of work related stress and the leading cause of physical and emotional exhaustion of workers. The health sector is especially prone to this type of stress because of the environment and the nature of the work. Work in the health sector entails meeting unrealistic deadlines, under recruitment of staff and technological problems which lead to overload. Work overload affects employee satisfaction, therefore, affecting their performance as well as their engagement (Chiang, 2012). Studies have been done to determine the causes and effects of work overload in health centers and how the stress causing factor can be solved. This paper purposes to study and summarize some of the articles written about work overload, determine their authoritativeness and how they are related to each other.
The first article review is an article in the journal of occupational health psychology about overload, autonomy, and burn out as predictors of physician’s quality of care. The article summarizes a model where the relationship between overload and physician’s quality of care to patients was examined. The study involved the collection of data from different medical specialists and examined global burn out in all the three facets including fatigue, emotional exhaustion, and weariness. The study concluded that the workload assigned to a physician indirectly affects the quality of care they offer to patients.
The article is well researched and the findings are summarized in a short readable article that contains useful information and can be easily understood. Information about how data was collected is available. The article explains how 890 specialists provided the data needed to reach their conclusion. Information was also global because the specialists represented 6 different medical specialties (p 67). Information about how the findings were reached is provided and they contain facts making the article authoritative and reliable. The findings explain that workload predicted global burn outs and fatigue at a higher level whereas autonomy, on the other hand, predicted lower levels of global burn out.
Overload, autonomy and burn out is related to articles on work overload such as burn out and work overload among health care workers, an article that gives detailed information about the burn out syndrome that healthcare workers are at a risk of acquiring due to stress related work conditions and how it affects the quality and safety of healthcare they provide. The two articles therefore both try to relate workload to the quality of healthcare and how workload control will have an overall effect on the safety and quality of provided healthcare.
The article Burn out and workload among healthcare workers relates burn out to psychological stress at work, that in, turn affects the safety and quality of healthcare in health centers. The theme of the article is to investigate job control moderation and its effects on the relationship between work overload and burn outs. Due to the nature of their work, health professionals are likely to undergo stress, burnout, physical and even mental illness. The article tries to find solutions to this type of work overload and stress by using job control as a moderator, therefore, affecting the amount of work overload which directly affects the rate of burn outs.
The article is clearly stated and explained and contains detailed information about data collection and the method used for data analysis to reach the findings. Two hypotheses were tested, one involving the relationship between workload and exhaustion and the other one involving job control being negatively related to exhaustion. For a medical study to be reliable it should be conducted in accordance with the world medical Association’s code of ethics (Mats Eklöf, 2014). The burnout and work load study met the above criteria. It involved 352 health workers from Italian public hospitals who completed a questionnaire on cynicism, job control, work overload and exhaustion (Chou, 2008, p 215). The results of the study advocated for management options that encouraged job control and provided resources to employees to reduce burn out.
Conclusively the article on burn outs and workload among health workers prove that work overload is a norm in the health care profession and it poses a great risk to health workers of getting burn out syndrome. The first article on overload and autonomy is related to this article because they both find that the solution to work overload begins with management. One article advocates for autonomy while the other advocates for job control which will ensure the independence of the workers and therefore reducing burn out. Both the articles have stated facts that prove that, indeed, work overload affects the quality and safety of healthcare provided. However, the burnout article, which is the second article discussed uses a different approach where it proves a sequential link between job moderation, workload, and exhaustion. The discussed articles relate to the article on work overload and how to deal with it by a freelance worker trying to cope with the work overload issue.
The article Work overload and how to deal gives the reader a picture of the schedule of the freelance worker as he explains how just getting a chance to travel is a onetime opportunity. The article explains how busy the worker’s schedule is; working 60 hours in a week while managing all kinds of stress, no guaranteed pay, no paid vacations or sick leaves, no guaranteed pay and no job security (Elena, 2013, p 2620). It appears too much to handle and one would hope for a friendlier working environment. The writer, however, refers to the schedule as the norm because they are used to it and even tries to educate others on how to go about the work overload because according to them it is a platform for growth and it is worth the sacrifice. The writer gives time management, task management, and priority management as hacks of surviving work overload.
The article is interesting and clearly stated giving the reader a picture of how work overload can be a major stress in a worker’s life. The one thing that can be seen from the beginning of the article is the worker's attitude. In his own way, he has managed to get through a routine most people would find impossible or even burn out. The article is authoritative, the author goes ahead to provide solutions to the problem and also calls the routine a norm. The stated solutions, time management, task management and priority management appear to be the solutions to any work schedule (Chou, 2008). Even though the health care profession is a different line of work, the workers can embrace the given solutions to make their days a bit easier. The article is related to the other discussed articles because they are all finding solutions to work overload. Another article connected to the three articles is an article about workplace support, role overload, and job satisfaction of direct care workers in assisted living.
Workplace support, role overload, and job satisfaction of direct care workers in assisted living is a research article which relates low job satisfaction to high rates of low-quality care in assisted living. The environment at work, the overall workload and support provided directly affect the quality of work. Although job satisfaction differs across different job facilities, it is likely given that role overload and job satisfaction independently and separately influence the quality of services offered (Chou, 2008). The article explains the relationship between the three factors and the changes that can be embraced at the work place to ensure better resource supply and job satisfaction for safe and quality care.
The article is a summary of a study to help in the understanding of job conditions in assisted living conditions. The method of research and data collection is clearly stated and the research focuses on direct workers in assisted living facilities. Two theories of job satisfaction are integrated to determine the relationship between work place support, role overload, and job satisfaction. The study is focused mainly on job satisfaction for better services in assisted living facilities. A survey of 984 workers from 108 assisted living facilities provided information for the research and it was concluded that the three, work overload, job satisfaction, and institutional support are related. Role overload is negatively related to job satisfaction while institutional support and emotional support from coworker and supervisor positively influences job satisfaction. The information from the article is not as detailed as the one from the other articles but it gives a conclusion that job satisfaction would require a multifaceted approach where support from the institution, coworkers, and supervisors is given while at the same controlling the role overload.
The studied articles all provide solutions to the concern of work overload. The first article suggests autonomy where the worker has control over their jobs to solve the problem of work overload for quality healthcare. The second article on burn outs caused due to stress and work overload at work and suggests job control moderation for workers and provision of resources to workers to avoid burn outs. The two articles use the same approach to solve the problem of work overload by creating good work environments for quality health care. From the two articles, it can be concluded that quality of health care depends on the satisfaction and comfort of the worker which should begin at the management level (Ali Mohammad Mosadeghrad, 2011).
The third article is about a freelancers work schedule. It can be established from the article that the worker barely has time for themselves. The interesting part is that the worker tries to find solutions for the work conditions by embracing the routine as a norm and finding three guides, time management, task management and priority management as solutions to the difficult routine. From the article, it can be concluded that when there are no other external solutions to work overload the worker should manage their time and tasks in such a way that even though it is hard, it is workable. However, information provided is an opinion from a single worker and there is no evidence that other workers would feel the same.
The last article links job satisfaction to low quality of work in assisted living facilities. Like the first two articles, the research conducted proves that job satisfaction begins with the working environment and resources provided and generally affects the overall quality of work (Elena Fiabane, 2013). The research is a summary and is conducted in assisted living facilities and therefore it cannot be known if the solutions provided will work for only these facilities or if they can work for other health centers. However, from the other researches done on the quality of health care and job satisfaction, the article is valid because it also advocates for support of the worker and control of work overload for quality work.
Work overload in health centers is the main cause of poor quality care and this is due to stress related issues at the work place. Health workers are physically and emotionally drained and are at a risk of burn out syndrome because of their interaction with different types of individuals and conditions (Chiang, 2012). Understaffing has also been a major issue meaning that the workers would go for long night shifts without rest and are expected to attend to each patient equally. This can lead to low quality of work because of exhaustion and fatigue. Freelancers and other fields of work have different working conditions where their work overload can be managed by different approaches.
In conclusion, job satisfaction is a major determinant of the quality of work offered by different institutions. Work overload in the health care sector negatively affects the health care workers and also negatively affects the health institution because services provided will not necessarily be of high quality. The only way to solve the problems of work overload in health centers begins with management. All solutions of autonomy, job control and provision of resources ensure that the working environment is comfortable for the benefit of the worker, the patient and also a major determinant of the quality of care provided at the health centers. A multifaceted approach should be considered to address workload at the same time ensuring that the needs of the workers are met by providing the required resources for quality services.
References
Ali Mohammad Mosadeghrad, E. F. (2011). A study of relationship between job stress, quality of working life and turnover intention among hospital employees. Health services management research, 170-181.
Chiang, Y.-M. a. (2012). Stress, depression and intention to leave among nurses in different medical units. Health policy, 149-157.
Chou, R. J.-A. (2008). workplace support,role overall and job satisfaction of direct care workers in assisted living. Journal Of Health And Social Behavior, 208-222.
Elena Fiabane, I. G. (2013). Work engagement and occupational stress in nurses and other healthcare workers: the role of organisational and personal factors. journal of clinical nursing, 2614-2624.
Mats Eklöf, M. T. (2014). Organizational and social-psychological conditions in healthcare and their importance for patient and staff safety. A critical incident study among doctors and nurses. safety science volume 70, 211-221.
