| Learning Objective #1: Describe four effects of stress on today's health care workers and organizations | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss three aspects of hardiness training that may improve hardiness, diminish effects of stress, and improve workplace culture |
Sample: A convenience sample of 13 NMs was recruited from an urban North Texas hospital. Outlier problems resulted in a final N=12.
Methods: Initial content of the HTM was implemented over a 2.5-day session, including pre/post-testing. Instrumentation included demographics, Hardiness Scale, and Perceived Stress Scale. Additional sessions (2 hours each) ensued weekly for 6-weeks, at 6 and 12 months, followed by post-testing (total of 4 post-tests). Turnover rates were compared for 6 months prior to and following the HTM.
Findings: Change in initial hardiness scores were significant (.05). Post-test 2 (6 weeks), evidenced no change in hardiness scores. Post-test 3 (6 months) hardiness scores were significantly lower, but only in one subscale (control). Post-test 4 revealed no changes in hardiness scores. However, loss of two NMs from the agency caused significant skewing of data, so post-test 4 data was eliminated from final analyses. Change in stress scores was not significant. However, a significant inverse relationship was found between hardiness and stress. Turnover rates decreased an average of 63%.
Conclusions: Hardiness scores may be improved and sustained through use of a HTM. High hardy NMs could predictably perceive less stress; an HTM may contribute to reduced turnover rates among staff. Among nurse managers, an HTM longer than 6-9 months may prove difficult.
Implications: Use of a HTM may increase hardiness among managers/staff thus reducing stress and increasing productivity and job satisfaction. Hardiness training may also reduce vacancies as staff feel empowered and committed to the organization thus creating a work environment that will attract and retain staff.