Abstract
Introduction: The work of assistant Medical Officers (AMOs) encompasses pre-hospital care, handling emergency and elective cases, as well as providing health promotion, all of which may predispose them to various stressors of the clinical setting. Workplace conflicts in the healthcare industry is unavoidable and can lead to long-term complicated emotional effects. Understanding the conflicts that AMOs face on a daily basis is crucial in developing effective conflict management methods in the healthcare setting. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of stress and its relationship with different types of workplace conflicts among the AMO.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from June-December 2019 among AMOs working in various Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities. Personal Stress Inventory (PSI) was used to determine the level of stress. Workplace conflicts in this study were obtained from previous literatures. Sample size was calculated using multistage stratified sampling. Complex sampling analysis was performed for data analysis. Results: Among the 1,839 AMOs who participated, 43.6% (n= 810) perceived themselves to be stressful (PSI score > 36). A higher prevalence of stress was seen among AMOs who were younger, female gender, single, no children, low household income (B40), with comorbid, and from higher education level. Multivariate analysis showed that certain workplace conflicts, i.e. role ambiguity (AOR = 2.23; p < 0.05), demanding patients or family members (AOR = 1.55; p < 0.01), unclear job expectations (AOR = 1.43; p < 0.05), fear of exposure to occupational hazards (AOR = 1.69; p < 0.05), and work-family conflict (AOR = 2.10; p < 0.01) were significant predictors of stress. Discussion: The results suggested that nearly half of the AMOs felt stressed at their workplace which may put them at risk of mental health conditions like anxiety and burnout. The perceived stress was more common among junior AMOs as they struggled to adjust with new working environment as well as those who were still single or childless as they lacked family support. Certain workplace conflicts increased the risk of developing stress. Thus, efforts should be made to address modifiable stressors to safeguard the mental health of AMOs and the quality of care for patients.
Links
- https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-P-131.pdf
- https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/wpforms/1176-1e04940bb5d885bf8711ed1909[...]
BibTeX (Download)
@proceedings{APCPH2022-P-131,
title = {Workplace Conflicts as Predictors of Self-perceived Stress among Assistant Medical Officers: A National Survey},
author = {Nursyahda Zakaria and Nor Haniza Zakaria and Munirah Ismail and Lee Kun Yun},
url = {https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-P-131.pdf
https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/wpforms/1176-1e04940bb5d885bf8711ed19095a89ed/APCPH2022_P_131-9e74ebc4624a471d06ce2de205e3e7dd.pdf},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-08-02},
urldate = {2022-08-02},
issue = {7},
abstract = {Introduction: The work of assistant Medical Officers (AMOs) encompasses pre-hospital care, handling emergency and elective cases, as well as providing health promotion, all of which may predispose them to various stressors of the clinical setting. Workplace conflicts in the healthcare industry is unavoidable and can lead to long-term complicated emotional effects. Understanding the conflicts that AMOs face on a daily basis is crucial in developing effective conflict management methods in the healthcare setting. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of stress and its relationship with different types of workplace conflicts among the AMO.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from June-December 2019 among AMOs working in various Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities. Personal Stress Inventory (PSI) was used to determine the level of stress. Workplace conflicts in this study were obtained from previous literatures. Sample size was calculated using multistage stratified sampling. Complex sampling analysis was performed for data analysis. Results: Among the 1,839 AMOs who participated, 43.6% (n= 810) perceived themselves to be stressful (PSI score \> 36). A higher prevalence of stress was seen among AMOs who were younger, female gender, single, no children, low household income (B40), with comorbid, and from higher education level. Multivariate analysis showed that certain workplace conflicts, i.e. role ambiguity (AOR = 2.23; p \< 0.05), demanding patients or family members (AOR = 1.55; p \< 0.01), unclear job expectations (AOR = 1.43; p \< 0.05), fear of exposure to occupational hazards (AOR = 1.69; p \< 0.05), and work-family conflict (AOR = 2.10; p \< 0.01) were significant predictors of stress. Discussion: The results suggested that nearly half of the AMOs felt stressed at their workplace which may put them at risk of mental health conditions like anxiety and burnout. The perceived stress was more common among junior AMOs as they struggled to adjust with new working environment as well as those who were still single or childless as they lacked family support. Certain workplace conflicts increased the risk of developing stress. Thus, efforts should be made to address modifiable stressors to safeguard the mental health of AMOs and the quality of care for patients.},
howpublished = {published online at https://apcph.cphm.my},
note = {Type: POSTER PRESENTATION; Organisation: Institute for Health Management, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Malaysia},
keywords = {Assistant Medical Officer, role ambiguity, stress, workplace conflict},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}