Faculty of Health Sciences
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Item Exploring the psychosocial effects of the Coronavirus 2019 (covid-19) pandemic on foreign national critical care nurses employed in Saudi Arabia(2022-09-29) Chetty, Krishnavellie; Naidoo, V.; Naranjee, N.Globally, the Covid-19 pandemic has confronted Critical Care nurses with an even greater, unprecedented challenge and to a great extent, exposed them to many risk factors. This has a profound psychosocial and psychological impact on their mental health and their well-being (El-Hage et al. 2020: 73). The same study notes that, foreign national Critical Care nurses have to deal with numerous end-of-life decisions, shortage of beds and inadequate supplies such as, shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and the fear of getting infected or infecting others. In Saudi Arabia, the healthcare nursing workforce is comprised of both Saudi nationals and foreign nationals who are employed as contract workers. The greater proportion of the Critical Care Unit in Saudi Arabia comprises foreign nationals (Almalki et al. 2011a: 304). Although the initial Covid-19 outbreak was under control, there was still risk of viral transmission through the population and the disease continued to end in fatalities (Alshammari et al. 2020: 898). The purpose of this study was to use in-depth interviews to understand the psychological needs of foreign national Critical Care nurses working in extraordinary epidemic situations, and to analyse the main content of their psychological and psychosocial needs through the lens of the ERG theory and to provide a perspective for interventions to alleviate the psychosocial and the psychological stress of foreign national Critical Care nurses at the front-line. Aim of the study The aim of the study was to explore the psychosocial effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Saudi Arabian foreign national Critical Care nurses. Methodology In the proposed study, a qualitative, exploratory design was followed to explore the psychosocial effects on foreign national Critical Care nurses who nursed Covid-19 patients in the Critical Care Unit. A qualitative explorative phenomenological design was particularly relevant to this study as this approach allowed for engagement and interaction with the foreign national Critical Care nurses through interviews whilst striving for subjectivity. The phenomenological method focuses on the experiences and feelings of participants to find shared patterns rather than individual characteristics of the research subjects. Findings The findings of the study were aligned to Alderfer’s ERG theory and provided evidence that foreign national Critical Care nurses experienced psychosocial factors whilst caring for Covid-19 critically ill patients. Critical Care nurses experienced great stress when they were fighting against Covid-19 with their own needs for health, safety, interpersonal relationships and related knowledge. The findings from the study yielded the following three core needs: namely a need for survival; a need for relationships; and a need for growth and development. Therefore, under the direction of the leaders’ and executive management, the provision of prompt and relevant training for the prevention and control of Covid-19 would help reduce psychological panic and insecurity caused by inadequate knowledge.Item A comprehensive healthcare managerial framework that explicates the manner in which workload factors influence the nurses’ well-being : a case study of a Saudi Arabian hospital(2021-05-27) Chetty, Krishnavellie; Sibiya, M. N.; Naidoo, V.The shortage of specialized intensive care unit (ICU) nurses is a workload factor that negatively influences the provision of quality nursing care by compromising workplace productivity and job satisfaction. Work pressures are evident in health systems throughout the world, where there is growing concern over a nursing shortage in relation to the country's disease profile, population increases, chronic disease growth and increased life expectancies. Although workload plays a fundamental role in staff and patient well-being, minimal research has been conducted on the evaluation of workload effects and its impact on nurses' wellbeing among Saudi Arabian ICU nurses. Aim The aim of the study were to determine the various workload factors that influence the well-being of ICU nurses working in a Saudi Arabian Hospital and to develop a comprehensive healthcare managerial framework that explicates the way workload factors influence nurses’ well-being. Methodology Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, data were collected by means of semi structured interviews, with 20 participants in the qualitative phase. A survey questionnaire, that was developed and adapted from the Job Demand Resource (JDR) Model, was used to collect to data from 200 participants. The quantitative data were analysed using the latest version 25 of SPSS and qualitative data were analysed using Tesch’s method of data analysis. Findings The findings from the study were aligned to the JDR Model and provided evidence that ICU nurses experienced various workload factors that influenced their well-being and productivity. It was found that the high job demands cause strain and health impairment, which are associated with decreased job satisfaction of staff working in the ICUs of Saudi Arabian hospitals. On the basis of these findings, the researcher proposed and developed guidelines for the implementation of a comprehensive managerial framework that explicated workload factors that influence the well-being of the ICU nurses. The proposed framework can be utilized as an interactive tool that will set out clear actionable steps, providing ongoing guidelines on how healthcare organisations should plan and implement suitable workloads, efficiently and effectively, to ensure staff health and well-being.