e e e This COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the world around
us. Probably one of the biggest hit industries is the healthcare field. A recent
study wanted to evaluate the psychological effects caused by the pandemic. The
researchers believed that COVID-19 has caused occupational stress and PTSD for
healthcare workers (Levi & Moss, 2022). The study used a convenience sample of
ten ICU nurses from a southeastern hospital in the United States. These nurses
had all treated at least one patient with a severe case of COVID-19. To test the
stress levels of these nurses, they were interviewed over the phone. The interview
used open-ended questions that would assess the participant’s PTSD symptoms.
At the same time, participants were asked to rate their job satisfaction using a
Likert scale. Once the interview was complete, the opened-ended ended responses
were compared to the criteria for PTSD in the DSM-5. Then, job satisfaction
scores were also correlated with one another. Out of the ten nurses, seven of
them met the criteria for PTSD. At the same time, five out of ten nurses had
contemplated quitting their job within the last six months. The researchers
concluded that once job stresses are severe enough, they may cause PTSD
symptoms. With that in mind, a high amount of stress may also lead to lower job
satisfaction. However, researchers close the article by explaining that further
research is needed to be able to generalize these results to a wider population
(Levi & Moss, 2022).
e e e e e e e e e e Another study linked PTSD and job satisfaction. This second study
believes that proper social support would increase job satisfaction. At the same
time, social support and job satisfaction could help veterans overcome PTSD
(Harris et al., 2017). The sample for this study consisted of 172 veterans from a
veteran’s hospital in the Midwest United States. Each participant was evaluated
for PTSD based on the criteria laid out in the DSM-5. Once this evaluation was
complete, they completed two inventories. The first inventory is the Mentoring and
Communication Support Scale (MCSS). The MCSS is used to assess the amount
of social support a person feels from their workplace. The second inventory is the
Job in General (JIG). This inventory seeks to evaluate the amount of satisfaction
that a person finds in their job. The researchers used a multiple regression
analysis to evaluate all these variables. The results indicated that PTSD symptoms
were much less prominent in veterans that had high job satisfaction and a high
amount of social support from their job (Harris et al., 2017). e e
e e e e e e e e e e These articles are interesting to think about. The relationship between
occupation and PTSD is unclear. On one side of it, it appears the job can cause a
person to develop PTSD. However, on the other side, it seems that the job helps
to alleviate PTSD symptoms for others.
References
Harris, J. I., Strom, T. Q., Ferrier-Auerbach, A. G., Kaler, M. E., Hansen L. P., &
Erbes, C. R. (2017). Workplace social support in job satisfaction among veterans
with posttraumatic stress symptoms: A preliminary correlational study.
PLoS One,
12
(8). http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181344 (Links to an external site.)
Levi, P., & Moss, J. (2022). Intensive care unit nurses’ lived experiences of
psychological stress and trauma caring for COVID-19 patients.
Workplace Health
