The Relationship between the Effort reward Imbalance and Psychosocial Health in Nurses

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: The health of nurses as providers of health affects the quality of care provided by health care organizations to patients. The effort-reward imbalance is accompanied by repressive responses that can lead to physical and psychological diseases as well as stressful experiences in nurses’ activity. Regarding the existence of some discrimination in the system of health, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between the imbalance of effort-reward and psychosocial health in nurses. Methods and materials: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 270 nurses working in five medical-educational centers in Tabriz participated through random-quota sampling. The research tool included a demographic questionnaire, Siegrist effort reward imbalance questionnaire and Copenhagen Psychosocial questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS V18 and descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: In the present study, 54.8% of the patients were suffering from imbalance in the effort reward model (occupational stress). The relatively high prevalence of this can be attributed to the conditions of the hospital's working environment. The results of this study showed a significant relationship between psychosocial health and balance of reward and effort in nurses and also the findings of the research showed a positive and significant relationship between mental and social health and the score of effort-reward imbalance model (0.95 = R, and P <0.05). There was a significant relationship between effort and work commitment and job burnout. Conclusion: Considering the stressful nature of the profession among many reasons, the mental health of nurses is at a higher risk than that of other groups in the society. Because some factors related to the imbalance in the effort and reward model (stress) is inevitable, it is necessary in the profession of nursing for managers to review their employees' position and characteristics to find out their staff’s attitudes and behaviors and direct them in the right path.