Occupational Stress and Perceived Quality of Life Among Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study in A Nigerian State

This study assessed the influence of occupational stress on perceived quality of life among clinical nurses in selected hospitals in Nigeria. A cross sectional descriptive research design was adopted while multiple sampling was used to select the respondents from hospitals in Ogun state. Slovin’s formula (n=N/[1+N (e²)]) was used to determine the sample size of 425. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from respondents. The analysis was done with SPSS version 25 while descriptive such as tables and bar charts and inferential statistics were used to present the data. Findings revealed that the mean age of the respondents is 36.37±8.90 years and majority of the respondents were between 30-49 years. Almost half of the respondents (48.0%) reported high occupational stress while 44.2% and 7.8% reported low & fair occupational stress respectively. High workload (83.9%), long hours of night shift (71.1%), lack of resources and equipment (67.8%), frequency night shift (67.5%), emotional load of dealing with aggressive and demanding patients (62.6%), poor salary (61.6%), and prolong standing with no time for break (58.5%) are factors responsible for stress among nurses. The results further showed that 52.2% of the respondents reported good work-related quality of life while 38.8% rated their work-related quality of life as poor. The study also showed that there was significant relationship between occupational stress (Organizational issues (P= 0.035), Occupational hazards (P= 0.024), Interpersonal relationships (p= 0.003) and unmet basic physiological needs (P= 0.005)) and work-related quality of life. Conclusion: This study concluded that occupational stress affects nurses’ work-related quality of life negatively and influence patients’ outcomes. Hence, there is an urgent need for development of health promotion programmes on stress reduction and stress management. Keywords: Influence, Occupational Stress, Quality of life, Clinical Nurses.

The Pandemic Context and Quality of Life for Youth in Constanta County

The COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on Romanian people. For almost two years the changes in the everyday life of the inhabitants of our country happened with such speed and dramatic consequences, that it raised the question about the perception of Romanian people regarding their perceived quality of life. A sample of 1796 young people, all residents of Constanta County, aged between 18 and 25 years old, was assessed with a survey made by the authors, concerning their perception on the quality of their life in the fields of health, self-esteem, goals and values, financial, professional, leisure, learning, family and social environment, and emotional regulation. Of all the themes we studied, this research tries to identify the differences regarding the quality of life between rural and urban residents. We obtained statistical significant differences regarding goals and values, learning opportunities and emotional regulation. Results are discussed in the end of the paper in the context of the on-going changes still caused by the Covid-19 pandemic

From the Entrepreneurial University to the Civic University

The chapter aims to investigate the impact of the presence of the university on the perceived quality of life of the host community. To this aim, the authors focused on a specific area, that is the historical town center of Naples (as defined by the UNESCO in the World Heritage List since 1995), where five universities are located. Adopting a qualitative and explorative approach, 25 in-depth interviews have been conducted with local universities' stakeholders and content-analyzed through the software Nvivo 10. Thus, the authors identified precisely the multiplicity of activities through which the presence of the university contributes to the socio-economic and cultural well-being of the community of which it is part, thinking about the dynamics that may occur in the case of an urban-located university. Based on the findings, a conceptual model is proposed that may be further validated with new investigations.

Beyond Instructional Development: An Exploration of Using Formal Pedagogy Training to Benefit Perceived Quality of Life and Sense of Community in Graduate Students

The Association of American Colleges and Universities calls for improvements in teaching preparation in graduate programs as a transferable skill for future faculty. However, the amount of institutional and faculty support for these programs is limited. For the relatively few programs that exist, rarely do they have their outcomes assessed in a data-driven manner. This is disconcerting considering that participation in professional development can improve work-life balance, and graduate students often work long hours, suffer from mental health issues, and face increasing career competition. In this case study, we explore how two teaching development programs impacted pedagogical knowledge, perceived quality of life, and sense of community in graduate students at the University of California, Irvine. Using a mixed methods approach, we demonstrate that participants in our introductory quarter-long Developing Teaching Excellence course increased their pedagogical knowledge, and participants in both our introductory course and our advanced year-long Pedagogical Fellows Program reported having improved quality of life and sense of belonging. Most commonly, participants framed these pedagogical programs/courses as providing a safe and inclusive space to explore teaching in an interdisciplinary manner; a network of like-minded and supportive peers; and an opportunity to develop greater confidence in teaching, mentorship, and other aspects of graduate life such as conducting research and entering the academic job market. Taken together, our results indicate that providing a structured, nurturing environment for graduate students to develop their pedagogical knowledge and practice may lead to improved quality of life and sense of belonging.

Experience of Time and Subjective Age When Facing a Limited Lifetime: The Case of Older Adults with Advanced Cancer

Objectives We addressed two questions: (1) Does advanced cancer in later life affect a person’s awareness of time and their subjective age? (2) Are awareness of time and subjective age associated with distress, perceived quality of life, and depression? Methods We assessed patients suffering terminal cancer (OAC, n = 91) and older adults free of any life-threatening disease (OA, n = 89), all subjects being aged 50 years or older. Results Older adults with advanced cancer perceived time more strongly as being a finite resource and felt significantly older than OA controls. Feeling younger was meaningfully related with better quality of life and less distress. In the OA group, feeling younger was also associated to reduced depression. Perceiving time as a finite resource was related to higher quality of life in the OA group. Discussion Major indicators of an older person’s awareness of time and subjective aging differ between those being confronted with advanced cancer versus controls.

Self-Perceived Quality of Life in Spanish-Speaking Women with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Perceived personal wellbeing tends to be lower in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), especially in the case of women. To develop the present study, the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI-A) was administered to a Spanish-speaking sample of women with ASD (N = 401) and self-diagnosed ASD (N = 343), women without ASD (N = 373) and men with ASD (N = 65) to compare their self-perceptions. Women with ASD showed significantly lower wellbeing rates than women in the control group for the total PWI-A and across all the domains, and there were no significant differences when compared with self-diagnosed women with ASD and men with ASD. Autism explained between 24 and 26% of the decline in the PWI-A total score, with life achievement, future security, safety and relationships being the domains most highly correlated with the total. These findings are an effective contribution to improving diagnosis and professional intervention in women with ASD.

Meaning in Life of Terminally Ill Parent with Young Children – A Quantitative Evaluation with SMiLE

Background Increasing the quality of life is one of the objectives of palliative care. Meaning in life has a significant influence on the perceived quality of life. We found no studies focusing on patients with young children.Methods Young parents diagnosed with life-limiting disease could participate and create an audiobook. Patients were assessed using Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluaton (SMiLE) pre and post intervention. The SMiLE is a validated instrument to assess meaning in life. Patients list their individual items that provide meaning in life. In a second step they are requested to rate their current level of satisfaction and in a last step they are asked to rank the importance of each item. Overall indices of weighting, satisfaction and importance are calculated. In addition, participants were interviewed twice over the course regarding expectations, concerns, motivation, and experiences.ResultsThe data were collected from February 2017 till September 2020. Fifty-four patients with ninety-six children at a mean age of seven years could be included. The involvement with the SMiLE made patients think about their resources. Most important items were in decreasing order family (100%), social relations (79.6%), leisure time (61.1%), nature/animals (38.9%), and home/garden (29.6%). Index of weighting (IOW) was 81.5, index of satisfaction (IOS) was 71.4, and a total SMiLE Index (IOWS) was 72.4. Parent felt limited by their illness in being a mother or father, as they wanted to be.ConclusionItems relevant for young parent showed differences to evaluations of cancer patients and palliative care patients. Most important item for meaning in life is the family numerated by all participants. The results indicate that evaluation of meaning in life is a coping strategy and helps young parent with young children.

Stigma and Adults with Tourette’s Syndrome: “Never Laugh at Other People’s Disabilities, Unless they have Tourette’s—Because How Can You Not?”

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a condition that has been stigmatised and mocked in contemporary society, yet little is known about the subjective experience of those directly affected by it. Guided by Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) a mixed method design was used for this study to explore the experience of stigma in adults living with TS in the UK. A total of one hundred and ninety-nine adults participated in a cross-sectional online survey using an adapted version of the Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC-12) and the Perceived Quality of Life (PQoL) scale, twenty of whom were also interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Quantitative findings indicated that participants experienced discrimination in numerous life domains; most prominently in education (75.4%), social life (71.4%), public transport (60.8%) and employment (54.3.%). The PQoL of adults with Tourette’s was found to be negatively correlated with both Enacted and Anticipated Discrimination from the DISC-12 scale. Qualitative findings illustrated the pervasive nature of TS stigma, which expanded beyond micro-interactions, and which could be observed at a structural level. The peculiar impact of disparagement humour in the construction and promulgation of “othering” individuals with TS was also highlighted. Concealment and self-stigma were mechanisms commonly utilised by individuals to manage their “spoiled identity”, inhibiting active and collective responses to stigmatisation. The study highlights how TS stigma acts as a barrier to social and economic participation for adults with the condition and helps identify factors that need to be considered when developing anti-stigma strategies.

Associates of Perceived Quality of Life in Chinese Older Adults Living With Cognitive Impairment

This study examined perceived quality of life in Chinese older adults living with cognitive impairment in a group of urban Chinese older adults and explore its associations with caregivers’ characteristics. Questionnaires were administered in person to 300 caregiver-care recipient dyads from three urban communities in mainland China in 2019. The 40-item Alzheimer’s Disease-related Quality of Life tool asked caregiver respondents to indicate care recipients’ life conditions. Higher levels of caregiving burden (β = -0.19, p < 0.01) and more depressive symptoms (β = -0.19, p < 0.01) amongst caregivers were significantly associated with lower quality of life of care recipients. The results suggested that reducing caregivers’ burden and depressive symptoms are essential to promote quality of life of care recipients. Formal support from health professionals, service organizations, and communities are urgently called for to promote the wellbeing of Chinese families affected by cognitive impairment.