Working Factors of Fatigue-Satisfaction in Hemodialysis Units Concerning the Nurse Personnel

Abstract

Introduction: The workplace and conditions prevailing on that, play a crucial role in the life of most workers. Hemodialysis Unit (HDU) is a "vital part" of the entire health care provided. The special characteristics of the work environment and the challenges of HDU is likely to affect the physical and mental health of the individual and the degree of satisfaction from work. Purpose: to investigate labor-organizational factors that exist in HDU and directly affect the psychic-sentimental well-being of nurses. Material and Method: A comprehensive literature review was conducted in the online database Medline-PubMed, Science Direct Wiley Online Library and HEAL-Link from 2003–2015, using the keywords: "nurse", "work environment", "burnout", "occupational stress", "job satisfaction", "hemodialysis" in all possible combinations. Inclusion criteria were to involve original published research papers in English or Greek. Results: From the search arose 52 articles, of which 29 meet the requirements of this review. The majority of studies are pure quantitative (79.4%) or combining both quantitative and qualitative methods for investigating and measuring results (13.8%) and use as a tool for measuring the Nurse Work Index (26%) in various forms, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (44.5%). The remaining qualitative studies (6.8%), implement the semistructured interview. From the data analysis of the above mentioned, fatigue appears to be associated with the sociodemographic characteristics of staff, professional and personal aspirations, the workload, the offered instruments for the achievement of the project, the possibility of continuing education, interdisciplinary collaboration, and finally the nature of the administration, as well as the personality of the head nurse. Conclusions: The organizational and administrative structure of the HDU correlates statistically significantly with the satisfaction or personal fatigue, the work safety, productivity and provision of health care quality. Administration awareness and activation in parallel with the implementation of practices such as establishing effective communication and supporting workers with means and opportunities for personal fulfilment, are emerging as an important element of the restriction of the professional employee fatigue syndrome.