Background

Sense of coherence (SOC) is a core concept of salutogenesis which relates to individuals’ overall life orientation. Stronger SOC associates with better coping strategies, better health, and better quality of life. Although the SOC-questionnaire is validated in many cultures and languages, it has not, to date, been applied in Nepal.

Objective

To determine and evaluate women’s SOC before and after a health education intervention.

Method

This study was conducted as a part of the Heart-health Associated Research, Dissemination, and Intervention in the Community in the semi-urban Jhaukhel-Duwakot Health Demographic Surveillance Site in Nepal. Jhaukhel and Duwakot were selected as the control and intervention areas, respectively. Participants were women with children aged 1-7 years. Eight hundred and fifty-seven women before and 1,268 women after the health education intervention participated in the study. The statistical analysis was carried out with chi-square tests and one-way uni-variate ANOVA.

Result

Women’s total SOC mean values at baseline were 51.1-57.4 and at follow up 54.4-54.9 in the intervention and control area, respectively. At baseline, SOC was significantly weaker in the intervention area compared to the control area (p < 0.001). At follow-up three months later, SOC was significantly stronger in the intervention area than in the control area (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Nepalese women had weaker SOC than women in high-income countries, but comparable to neighboring country India with similar cultural features. Empowerment of women through community participation and health education strengthened SOC. The SOC-13-questionnaire in its Nepali version is recommended to be further evaluated.

Background: Work-related health problems, such as work stress, fatigue, and burnout constitute a global challenge within the nursing profession. Work-related health among nurses is not yet a prioritized phenomenon in Nepal. Health-promoting approaches to maintaining and sustaining nurses’ health are therefore essential. The aim of this study was to explore and thereby gain a deeper understanding of how nurses in Nepal’s hospitals experience their everyday work, with a focus on promoting and sustaining their work-related health.

Methods: A qualitative design with semi-structured individual interviews were used. Nineteen registered nurses working at hospitals in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, were individually interviewed between October 6 and December 5, 2018. Transcribed interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis.

Results: Four main themes with belonging eight subthemes were constructed from the analysis: (1) “Sense of meaningfulness and belongingness in work culture” with subthemes; “Open environment” and “Sharing attitude and cooperating for the entire team” (2) “Support and rewards from the management team” with subthemes; “Lacking managerial support” and “Fair evaluation and job promotion opportunities”(3) “Workload and protection against work-related hazards” with subthemes; “Stressful and multitasking in workload” and “Lacking equipment for own health and caring”, and (4) “Motivation through opportunities and activities” with subthemes; “Employment benefits that motivate work”, and “Activities outside of work needed to recover”. These main themes and subthemes described nurses’ facilitators for and barriers to their work environment and health.

Conclusion: Our study highlighted nurses’ experiences with facilitators and barriers to their work-related health. Nurses’ work-related health was positively affected by support from colleagues, managers, and the organization. Conversely, less support from managers, lack of equipment, and unfair judgment were barriers to nurses’ work-related health. This study adds new knowledge about nurses’ work-related health from the context of Nepal. Hospital organizations and nursing managers in similar cultural and healthcare settings can apply the results of our study to develop strategies to promote and sustain nurses’ health and prevent work-related illness.

Registered nurses and midwives are in short supply and have among the highest rates of sick leave in the global workforce. The aim of this study was therefore to explore and gain a deeper understanding of how nurses and midwives experience their everyday work, with a view toward promoting and sustaining their work-related health. Nine registered nurses and four registered midwives working in hospitals and community healthcare facilities in Sweden were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed using content analysis. This study is reported in accordance with COREQ. One main category emerged: ‘Quality of organizational and collegial support and opportunities to facilitate recovery, health, and patient care’. From this category, four generic categories describing the overall experiences of registered nurses and midwives could be discerned. Based on these results, it is recommended that employers adopt a systematic health-promotive approach to foster and maintain the workplace health of registered nurses and midwives.

Background

Nursing professionals exhibit high prevalence of stress-related health problems. Job demands and job resources are parallel drivers of health and well-being among employees. Better job resources associate with better job satisfaction, job motivation and engagement even when job demands are high. To date, there is limited research which explores the association between job demands, job resources and health outcomes among nursing professionals in the Swedish context. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate Swedish nursing professionals’ job demands and job resources in relation to health outcomes, with comparisons between the private and public healthcare sectors. The specific research questions were as follows: (1) Are there differences between private and public healthcare regarding job demands, job resources, and health outcomes? and (2) Are there prospective associations between job demands and job resources in relation to health outcomes?

Methods

Data were drawn from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) 2016 and 2018, including 520 nurses and 544 assistant nurses working in the private and public healthcare sectors from 2016 (baseline). Data were analyzed using binary logistic regression.

Results

Nursing professionals reported higher threats, lower bullying, lower control, lower social support, and lower cohesion in the public healthcare units compared to the private healthcare units. The prospective analyses showed that job resources in terms of social support and rewards were associated with higher self-rated health and lower burnout. Cohesion was associated with higher self-rated health. Job demands in terms of psychological demands and job efforts were associated with lower self-rated health, higher burnout, and higher sickness absence, while emotional demands were associated with higher burnout.

Conclusions

Nursing professionals’ job resources are deficient in public healthcare units. Job resources are associated with positive health outcomes, whereas job demands are associated with negative health outcomes, among nursing professionals. Strengthening job resources among nursing professionals in the private and public healthcare sectors can promote and sustain their work-related health.