Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has strained hospitals and healthcare workers engaged in combating the virus with limited knowledge and resources. Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses are among the healthcare workers most affected by the pandemic and are at risk for developing burnout syndrome. Objective: The present study aims to explore burnout symptoms prevalence among ICU nurses and to identify the individual, organizational, and contextual risk, and protective factors of burnout in ICU nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A scoping review was conducted by searching PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Only papers with empirical data and referred to ICU nurses were included. A total of 350 initial results were yielded, and 40 full texts were screened. Twelve papers constituted the final sample in the analysis. Results: High levels of symptoms of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) were registered among ICU nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased workload, lack of equipment, social stigma, and fear of contagion emerged as key risk factors. Social support from leaders and colleagues, professional recognition, use of personal protective tools, and witnessing patients’ successful recovery emerged as major protective factors. Conclusions: The results may inform the development of timely actions to counter burnout in ICU nurses during this COVID-19 pandemic and in a post-COVID-19 scenario.
The article aims to be a reflective paper on the interconnected concepts of training, development and innovation and the potential they have in dealing with change in organizations. We call change both the process through which something becomes different and the result of that process. Change management is the expression used to define the complex of activities, functions, and tools (such as training courses) through which an organization deals with the introduction of something new that is relevant for both its survival and growth. Training and development are labels used to define those educational activities implemented in organizations to empower the competences of workers, employees and managers in the lifelong learning perspective of improving their performance. Consequently, we define competences as those personal characteristics that allow people to be effective in the changing contexts of both workplace and everyday life. They are also necessary in organizational innovation, which is the process of transforming ideas or inventions into goods or services that generate value and for which customers will pay. Training, development, and innovation are three different but interconnected functions by which organizations manage change. What is the state of the art of the literature dealing with these topics? Here, is a critical review on the matter.
1 September 2021 in Journal of Environmental Management
Authors have paid considerable attention to how to define the meaningful work construct. This has led to providing comprehensive definitions in the light of different theoretical frameworks that reflect a degree of contestation within the field. Several of them have proposed definitions linked to the individuals’ pervasive sense of the value of their work. Others have offered descriptions centered on their temporal, episodic nature and emphasizing the individual’s occasional work experience. These definitions reflected a potential temporal condition as well as the variety of time perspectives underpinning the authors’ conceptualizations of the construct. This paper conducted a broad literature review to analyze works that have adopted a temporal framework or supported a time-based definition of the construct. The analysis indicates two different conceptualizations of the construct: as a permanent/steady mindset and as a changeable/episodic experience. As a reflective paper, the present contribution develops an overall framework for views and theories on meaningful work. It reports a critical review on the matter to elevate understanding of meaningful work for further research and applied implications in work and organizational studies.