Internal and External Support Moderates Between Work-Related Stress and Job Performance in School Health Executives

Monday, 30 July 2012

Chia-Chan Kao, RN, PhD
Department of Healthcare Administration, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Chu-Mei Cheng, BS
Health Center, Kaohsiung Municipal Cheng Gong Developmental Disabilities School, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
Yu-Hua Lin, PhD
I-Shou University, Department of Nursing, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to understand each of the four types of support from either an internal or external resource in school health executives.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to acknowledge the relationships among work-related stress, support resources, and job performance in school health executives.

Purpose: Novel and emerging infectious diseases have significantly affected middle schools and high schools. The objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between work-related stress and job performance and to examine whether internal and external support moderate between work-related stress and job performance among school health executives in Taiwan. 

Methods: In a cross-sectional design, 210 school health executives were recruited from middle schools and high schools in southern Taiwan. The Chinese Health and Safety Executive Management Standards Indicator Tool, the Internal and External Support Questionnaires, the Job Performance Scale, and a personal profile were used to collect data information. Analytic methods included descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlations, t-tests, and 2-way ANOVA analyses.

Results: We found that a low level of work-related stress was related to a high level of job performance. Internal and external support played a moderating role between work-related stress and job performance among school health executives.

Conclusion: To achieve efficient management of infectious diseases, school health executives need support from internal and external resources to alleviate work-related stress and to successfully implement health-promoting programs.