- Title
- Work-related nursing fatigue levels and causes in Jordan: gender expectations and experiences
- Creator
- Al-Masaeed, Mahmoud
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2023
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Significance and Aim: The nursing profession plays a key role in enhancing the quality of care for patients. As such, they need to perform and function at their optimum level of performance. Unfortunately, the existing research literature points to the possibility of higher nursing fatigue prevalence in Jordan and the Middle East region. The existence of high fatigue levels in the nursing workforce poses the following risks: the lowering of the quality of care offered to patients, a reduction in nurses’ health, an increased risk of medication errors, and the reduced attractiveness of the profession for the next nursing generation. This doctoral study purports to measure and explore the prevalence and causes of work-related fatigue in Jordan's nursing staff. Furthermore, the research aims to explore the individual nursing coping strategies used to mitigate work-related fatigue, including the individual differences in fatigue experiences and expectations in dealing with fatigue among male and female nurses. Methodology: This study has a convergent parallel mixed method design. The qualitative data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, with 27 respondents selected through a purposive sampling technique. The quantitative study used a cross-section design and relied on closed-ended questionnaires. A simple random sampling strategy was used to obtain a sample of 517 respondents. The questionnaire was adapted from the FAS and the OFER 15 fatigue measurement tools. The qualitative data was analysed thematically through the Grounded theory thematic analysis model. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the risk of physical interactions, both data sets were collected virtually. The REDCap survey is used for quantitative data, while Zoom and Skype were used for qualitative data derived from the interviews. The studies were developed within Jordan using the King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH) and Jordan University Hospital (JUH) as the study sites. Findings and Conclusion: The quantitative study had 29.8% male and 70.2% female nurses. This indicate a high proportion of female nurses in Jordan. The scores of FAS that measured the levels of mental fatigue and physical fatigue were statistically significantly higher among female nurses than those of male nurses. Similarly, the scores of OFER 15 that measure acute fatigue and inter-shift recovery were statistically significantly higher among female nurses than those of male nurses. The results remain significant even after controlling for other socio-demographical characteristics. The multiple regression analysis indicates that the nurse’s socio-demographic factors, namely gender, age, experience, level of education, marital status, and number of dependents, impact the nurses’ fatigue hence the need to consider them when formulating nursing fatigue decisions. The qualitative study had 44.4% male and 55.6% female respondents. The qualitative study had 44.4% male and 55.6% female respondents. The findings include five key themes, namely (i) levels of fatigue- examining the level against what is considered acceptable fatigue levels within Jordan and internationally, (ii) causes of nursing fatigue- specifically focusing on the nurses' socio-demographic factors as the causative factors, (iii) gender impact on nurses’ fatigue- to evaluate if the fatigue levels varied between the male and female nurses working within the same context and working conditions, (iv) strategies to coping with nursing fatigue- both individual and within the industry context, and (v) the impact of the Islamic culture on nurses’ fatigue in Jordan. Recommendations: The thesis offers professional workplace recommendations on changing existing workplace structures to improve work-life balance. Additional recommendations are on clinical nursing coping strategies by establishing nurse mental wellness programs.
- Subject
- nursing fatigue levels; nursing fatigue casues; gender expectations and experiances; Jordan
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1493015
- Identifier
- uon:53463
- Rights
- Copyright 2023 Mahmoud Al-Masaeed
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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