Dysfunctional Social Support: Delivering Social Support at Work in an Unappreciative Way.

Self-esteem, both personal and social, constitutes a core concern for many people. Accordingly, Stress-as-Offense-to-Self theory focuses on threats, as well as boosts, to the self as important topics in occupational health science. Workplace social support is well established as a resource that signals acceptance and appreciation.

Noise in the operating room coincides with surgical difficulty.

Background: Noise in the operating room has been shown to distract the surgical team and to be associated with postoperative complications. It is, however, unclear whether complications after noisy operations are the result of objective or subjective surgical difficulty or the consequence of distraction of the operating room team by noise.

Methods: Noise level measurements were prospectively performed during operations in four Swiss hospitals.

Beneficial effects of a cognitive-behavioral occupational stress management group training: the mediating role of changing cognitions.

Introduction: While the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral stress management trainings (SMTs) is well-documented, the underlying mechanisms, especially in an occupational context, are not fully understood. We tested whether SMT-induced improvements in stress management skills, particularly in the mastery of changing cognitions, may explain beneficial SMT effects.

Methods: Our non-randomized controlled trial comprised 108 employees of a German health insurance company, with 65 of them participating in a cognitive-behavioral SMT and 43 participating in an alternative control training (AT).

Taking appreciation to heart: appreciation at work and cardiovascular risk in male employees.

Introduction: While perceived appreciation at work has been associated with self-reported health and wellbeing, studies considering biological health markers are lacking. In this study, we investigated whether appreciation at work would relate to coronary heart disease (CHD) risk as well as the specificity of this proposed association.

Methods: Our study comprised a total of 103 male participants, including apparently healthy, medication-free, non-smoking men in the normotensive to hypertensive range ( = 70) as well as medicated hypertensive and CHD patients ( = 33).

The role of social support in human-automation interaction.

This theoretical article examines the concept of social support in the context of human-automation interaction, outlining several critical issues. We identified several factors that we expect to influence the consequences of social support and to what extent it is perceived as appropriate (e.g.

Behavioral sciences applied to acute care teams: a research agenda for the years ahead by a European research network.

Background: Multi-disciplinary behavioral research on acute care teams has focused on understanding how teams work and on identifying behaviors characteristic of efficient and effective team performance. We aimed to define important knowledge gaps and establish a research agenda for the years ahead of prioritized research questions in this field of applied health research.

Methods: In the first step, high-priority research questions were generated by a small highly specialized group of 29 experts in the field, recruited from the multinational and multidisciplinary "Behavioral Sciences applied to Acute care teams and Surgery (BSAS)" research network - a cross-European, interdisciplinary network of researchers from social sciences as well as from the medical field committed to understanding the role of behavioral sciences in the context of acute care teams.

Stress at Work and Well-being Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A 1-Year Longitudinal Study in Switzerland.

Objective: The aim of the study is to analyze the development of conditions at work and health-related variables (notably exhaustion) in Switzerland longitudinally before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Questionnaire data were collected from a population-based sample of 1,553 employees in February 2020 and 1 year later. Health and well-being associated with ( a ) working conditions in general and ( b ) COVID-19-specific predictors such as worries about being infected and conditions for working at home were analyzed using analysis of (co)variance and multiple regression.

When Illegitimate Tasks Threaten Patient Safety Culture: A Cross-Sectional Survey in a Tertiary Hospital.

The current study investigates the prevalence of illegitimate tasks in a hospital setting and their association with patient safety culture outcomes, which has not been previously investigated. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a tertiary referral hospital. Patient safety culture outcomes were measured using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture questionnaire; the primary outcome measures were a low safety rating for the respondent's unit and whether the respondent had completed one or more safety event reports in the last 12 months.

No signs of check-list fatigue - introducing the StOP? intra-operative briefing enhances the quality of an established pre-operative briefing in a pre-post intervention study.

Background: The team timeout (TTO) is a safety checklist to be performed by the surgical team prior to incision. Exchange of critical information is, however, important not only before but also during an operation and members of surgical teams frequently feel insufficiently informed by the operating surgeon about the ongoing procedure. To improve the exchange of critical information during surgery, the StOP?-protocol was developed: At appropriate moments during the procedure, the leading surgeon briefly interrupts the operation and informs the team about the current Status (St) and next steps/objectives (O) of the operation, as well as possible Problems (P), and encourages questions of other team members (?).

Effects of team leaders' position in cardiopulmonary resuscitation teams on leadership behavior and team performance: A prospective randomized interventional cross-over simulation-based trial.

Background: Leadership is an important performance factor in resuscitation teams. Medical guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) advise team leaders to keep hands off patients. There is little evidence for this recommendation that is based purely on observational data.

StOP? II trial: cluster randomized clinical trial to test the implementation of a toolbox for structured communication in the operating room-study protocol.

Background: Surgical care, which is performed by intensely interacting multidisciplinary teams of surgeons, anesthetists, and nurses, remains associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Intraoperative communication has been shown to be associated with surgical outcomes, but tools ensuring efficient intraoperative communication are lacking. In a previous study, we developed the StOP?-protocol that fosters structured intraoperative communication.

Effects of structured intraoperative briefings on patient outcomes: multicentre before-and-after study.

Background: Operations require collaboration between surgeons, anaesthetia professionals, and nurses. The aim of this study was to determine whether intraoperative briefings influence patient outcomes.

Methods: In a before-and-after controlled trial (9 months baseline; 9 months intervention), intraoperative briefings were introduced in four general surgery centres between 2015 and 2018.

Gender-focused training improves leadership of female medical students: A randomised trial.

Objectives: Recent research suggests that the gender of health care providers may affect their medical performance. This trial investigated (1) the effects of the gender composition of resuscitation teams on leadership behaviour of first responders and (2) the effects of a brief gender-specific instruction on leadership behaviour of female first responders.

Methods: This prospective randomised single-blinded trial, carried out between 2008 and 2016, included 364 fourth-year medical students of two Swiss universities.

How are social stressors at work related to well-being and health? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Social relationships are crucial for well-being and health, and considerable research has established social stressors as a risk for well-being and health. However, researchers have used many different constructs, and it is unclear if these are actually different or reflect a single overarching construct. Distinct patterns of associations with health/well-being would indicate separate constructs, similar patterns would indicate a common core construct, and remaining differences could be attributed to situational characteristics such as frequency or intensity.

Does stress influence the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation? A narrative review of the literature.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation represents a major physical and psychological challenge for all involved health care workers because survival of the patients is closely related to the timely and accurate actions of rescuers. Consequently, rescuers may experience high levels of acute mental stress. Stress, in turn, may influence attentional resources and distractibility, which may affect the quality of resuscitation.

Association of self-esteem, personality, stress and gender with performance of a resuscitation team: A simulation-based study.

Background: Gender composition, stress and leadership of a resuscitation team influence CPR performance. Whether psychological variables such as self-esteem, motivation and personality traits are associated with resuscitation performance, stress levels and gender of rescuers during a cardiac arrest scenario remains uncertain.

Methods: We included 108 medical students in this prospective, observational simulator study.

Commuting as a work-related demand: Effects on work-to-family conflict, affective commitment, and intention to quit.

Commuting time is the duration of the transition between the work and private (typically family) domains. The status of commuting in theories dealing with work-family issues or boundary management is not very clear. We discuss commuting taking a different perspective from the literature (e.

More than experience: a post-task reflection intervention among team members enhances performance in student teams confronted with a simulated resuscitation task-a prospective randomised trial.

Background: Teams that regularly step back from action and deliberately reflect on their performance and strategies show higher performance. Ad hoc emergency teams with changing team composition cannot develop such habits but may engage in short postaction reflection to discuss shortcomings of past performance and potential adaptations of their strategies for future similar tasks. This study aimed to test the effect of a short postaction self-led reflective team briefing on resuscitation performance in a simulator setting in terms of three performance parameters: hands-on time, coordination between chest compression and ventilation, and defibrillation.

"Disruptive behavior" in the operating room: A prospective observational study of triggers and effects of tense communication episodes in surgical teams.

Background: Tense communication and disruptive behaviors during surgery have often been attributed to surgeons' personality or hierarchies, while situational triggers for tense communication were neglected. Goals of this study were to assess situational triggers of tense communication in the operating room and to assess its impact on collaboration quality within the surgical team.

Methods And Findings: The prospective observational study was performed in two university hospitals in Europe.

Hacking teamwork in health care: Addressing adverse effects of ad hoc team composition in critical care medicine.

Background: The continued need for improved teamwork in all areas of health care is widely recognized. The present article reports on the application of a hackathon to the teamwork problems specifically associated with ad hoc team formation in rapid response teams.

Purposes: Hackathons-problem-solving events pioneered in computer science-are on the rise in health care management.

The workday of hospital surgeons: what they do, what makes them satisfied, and the role of core tasks and administrative tasks; a diary study.

Background: Many surgeons report passion for their work, but not all tasks are likely to be satisfying. Little is known about how hospital surgeons spend their days, how they like specific tasks, and the role of core tasks (i.e.

Stress as Offense to Self: a Promising Approach Comes of Age.

Stress is related to goals being thwarted. Arguably, protecting one's self, both in terms of personal self-esteem and in terms of social self-esteem, is among the most prominent goals people pursue. Although this line of thought is hardly disputed, it does not play the prominent role in occupational health psychology that we think it deserves.

Assessing Perceptions of Teamwork Quality Among Perioperative Team Members.

Successful surgery depends on collaboration and mutual trust among interdisciplinary team members. We compared teamwork quality as perceived by surgeons, anesthesia care providers, and perioperative nurses using two surveys in the same hospital. The general survey sent to the homes of the OR personnel revealed teamwork climate scores in the medium to high range.

Predicting team-performance and leadership in emergency situations by observing standardised operational procedures: a prospective single-blind simulator-based trial.

Background: Performance of interdisciplinary teams and their leaders is crucial in acute medical care and can be monitored by observing specific events. Standardised operational procedures (SOP) are easily observable, whereas the unpredictability of medical emergencies makes performance monitoring in these situations difficult. The aim of this study was therefore to assess whether performance in emergency situations can be predicted by performance observed during an SOP.