Crown Heights/ Prospect Heights Community Assessment

Health Promotion Poster

Stress in the workplace is often common and unavoidable no matter the title or position. Many people of the working class experience high levels of stress depending on their occupation and many do not know how to effectively cope with it. This often results in “burnout” and excessive absenteeism. Danielle Lamb and Nicola Cogan wrote the article I read entitled “Coping with work-related stressors and building resilience in mental health workers”. Lamb and Cogan take a phenomenological research approach in answering the question, “how do mental health workers cope with work-based stressors and how do they develop resilience?” The two examine two groups, NHS mental health workers and Samaritan’s volunteers and compare the working experience of both parties.
Resilience is defined as a “dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity. Previous research has identified that those individuals classed as ‘resilient’ have some shared characteristics, for example being female, socially responsible, good communicators, capable of self reflection, flexible and determined and having supportive social and family relationships” (Lamb,2016, p. 475) . It is important for mental healthcare workers to gain a sense of resilience because of the high emotional demands of the job. In this study, Lamb and Cogan conclude that the primary stressor of working in mental health services is not the content of the job but it can become so when it is combined with other stressors such as excessive workloads and lack of supervision. They also note that having adequate time to prepare for contact with service users to complete administrative task and to keep up to date with developments in the field is vital in maintaining the high- quality services they seek to offer. I agree and relate to this statement. As a nurse working in the healthcare field it can be very demanding. At times before I walk into work I have to tell myself to leave my feelings at the door because as a healthcare worker you often take on the burdens of your patient or client. This can have a negative impact on your level of stress and ability to perform duties appropriately. I feel like all high stress level jobs should offer stress management training as well as other resources that employees can utilize when experiencing job related stress. The information I gained from this article ties back into the classroom discussion we had on job strain and job stressors. It also raises the question as to why a program that can teach employees how to effectively cope with stress and develop resilience has not been implemented in high stress environments yet. Research shows and supports the fact that high stress environments lead to high absenteeism, poor work ethic and high turnover rates. In my opinion, such a program will benefit employers and employees alike in the near future.

References

Lamb, D., & Cogan, N. (2015). Coping with work-related stressors and building resilience in mental health workers: A comparative focus group study using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(3), 474-492. doi:10.1111/joop.12136