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Work Characteristics (work + characteristic)
Selected AbstractsSELECTED DEMOGRAPHIC, SOCIAL AND WORK CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AUSTRALIAN GENERAL MEDICAL PRACTITIONER WORKFORCE: COMPARING CAPITAL CITIES WITH REGIONAL AREASAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 6 2000David Wilkinson ABSTRACT: The aim of the present study was to compare selected characteristics of the Australian general medical practitioner workforce in capital cities and regional areas. Data were derived from the 1996 Census of Population and Housing. Characteristics included age, sex, full- or part-time work, place of birth and change in residential address. Analyses were performed for each state and territory in Australia, the statistical division containing each capital city and all other statistical divisions in each state and territory. Of the 26 359 general medical practitioners identified, 68% were male. More female than male general medical practitioners were aged < 45 years (74 vs 52%, respectively; P < 0.0001). The proportion of general medical practitioners aged < 35 years was higher in capital cities (30%) than regional areas (24%; P < 0.0001). Overall, 32% of the general medical practitioner workforce was female and almost 50% of those aged < 35 years were female. The proportion of female general medical practitioners was higher in capital cities than regional areas, by up to 30%. While 13% of male general medical practitioners reported part-time work, 42% of females also reported part-time work and these figures were similar in capital cities and regional areas. Approximately 40% of the Australian general medical practitioner workforce was born outside Australia and while fewer migrants have entered in recent years they were more likely to be living in regional areas than the capitals. The census provides useful medical workforce data. The regional workforce tends to be made up of more males and is older than in capital cities. Monitoring trends in these characteristics could help to evaluate initiatives aimed at addressing regional workforce issues. [source] Psychosocial Work Characteristics as Predictors of Affective Organisational Commitment: A Longitudinal Multi-Level Analysis of Occupational Well-BeingAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, Issue 2 2010Thomas Clausen The purpose of this study was to identify longitudinal associations between psychosocial work characteristics and affective organisational commitment among 6,299 employees in the Danish eldercare services. Individual-level measures and group-level measures of psychosocial work characteristics were included in multi-level analyses. At the workgroup level, quality of leadership, influence at work, emotional demands, and work pace predicted affective organisational commitment at follow-up. At the individual level, quality of leadership, influence at work, team climate, role ambiguity, and work pace predicted affective organisational commitment at follow-up. Finally, a multi-level model including both individual- and group-level measures showed that quality of leadership measured at the group level and influence at work and quality of leadership measured at the individual level contributed to predicting affective organisational commitment at follow-up, while adjusting for baseline levels of affective organisational commitment. The results thus imply that affective organisational commitment is conditioned by individual and contextual factors in the psychosocial work environment and that multi-level models add to our understanding of complex organisational phenomena. As affective organisational commitment can be considered an important constituent of occupational well-being, implications for interventions in the psychosocial work environment to increase affective organisational commitment are also discussed. [source] Work characteristics, challenge appraisal, creativity, and proactive behavior: A multi-level studyJOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2010Sandra Ohly Work characteristics such as time pressure and job control can be experienced as a challenge that is positively associated with performance-related behaviors. Using experience-sampling data from 149 employees, we examined the relationships between these work characteristics and creativity and proactive behavior on a daily level. Results from multilevel analyses indicate that time pressure and job control are perceived as challenging, and that challenge appraisal in turn is related to daily creativity and proactive behavior. Furthermore, cross-level mediation analyses revealed that daily work characteristics act as the mechanism underlying the relationships between chronic work characteristics and challenge appraisal. This study supports the view of time pressure as a challenge-related stressor that leads to favorable outcomes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Beyond top-down and bottom-up work redesign: Customizing job content through idiosyncratic dealsJOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 2-3 2010Severin Hornung Two established approaches to work redesign are formal top-down interventions and proactive bottom-up job crafting. Top-down approaches are limited in their ability to create individually optimized work characteristics, whereas bottom-up processes are constrained by the latitude workers have to modify their own jobs. Following recent research on the idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) individuals negotiate with their employer, task i-deals customizing job content are suggested as a third approach to work redesign. Hypotheses on antecedents and consequences of task i-deals were tested in two studies conducted in the United States and Germany using structural equation modeling. LMX related positively to the extent of successfully negotiated task i-deals, which, in turn, was associated with a more positive evaluation of work characteristics,specifically, higher complexity and control and lower stressors. Work characteristics mediated positive indirect effects of task i-deals on employee initiative and work engagement. Denied requests for task i-deals were associated with a more negative assessment of work characteristics. We conclude with theoretical, practical, and research implications for better understanding and implementing work redesign through i-deals. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Racial and ethnic disparities in low birth weight delivery associated with maternal occupational characteristicsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010John D. Meyer MD Abstract Objectives Work characteristics and maternal education have both been associated with low birth weight (LBW) delivery. We sought to examine the relative contribution of these two factors to LBW delivery and determine whether ethnic/racial differentials in educational attainment and work characteristics might play a role in well-described disparities in LBW. Methods Scores for work substantive complexity (SC) derived from the O*NET were imputed to maternal occupation for Connecticut singleton births in 2000. Risks for LBW were estimated separately for black, Hispanic, and white mothers using logistic regression controlling for maternal covariates. Results Using white mothers as a referent, working is associated with reduced LBW risk in black mothers compared to those not in work (OR 2.06 vs. 3.07). LBW in working black women was strongly associated with less that a high school education (OR 4.80, 95% CI 1.68,13.7), and with low work SC in blacks in those with a college education or greater (OR 4.48, 95% CI 1.24,16.2). Examination of work SC scores, controlling for age and educational level, showed lower values for blacks; increased work SC was seen in Hispanics after adjustment for lower educational attainment. A decrease in risk for LBW was seen in black mothers, compared with whites, as work SC increased. By contrast, college-educated black mothers had a greater risk for LBW than those with high school or some college education. Conclusions Maternal employment and work in a job with greater SC were associated with a reduced risk of LBW in black mothers. Improved LBW risk was also seen with employment in Hispanics. Low work SC in those with higher educational attainment was strongly associated with LBW in blacks, but not whites or Hispanics. Education/work mismatch may play a role in racial disparities in birth outcomes. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:153,162 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The incidence of anxiety and depression among employees,the role of psychosocial work characteristicsDEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 11 2009Helene Andrea Ph.D. Abstract Background: Anxiety and depression are prevalent among employees and are associated with functional disability and work impairment. To date, little is known about the incidence and possible risk factors for developing anxiety and depression in the working population. Study aims were to (a) determine the incidence of subclinical anxiety and depression in a general working population and (b) identify the psychosocial work characteristics associated with the onset of subclinical anxiety and depression. Methods: This prospective study is based on 3,707 employees participating in the Maastricht Cohort Study on Fatigue at Work. Psychosocial work characteristics were measured in May 2000; anxiety and depression were measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in April 2002. Results: The cumulative 23-month incidence for subclinical anxiety and depression was 4.6 and 3.3%, respectively. High psychological job demands increased the risk for both subsequent anxiety and depression. Moreover, low social support was predictive for the onset of anxiety, whereas job insecurity increased the risk for the onset of depression. These prospective associations were independent of potential confounding variables and the other psychosocial work characteristics. Conclusions: Adverse psychosocial work characteristics are significant predictors for the onset of subclinical anxiety and depression in the general working population. These findings encourage intervention studies testing whether modifying the psychosocial work environment reduces both anxiety and depressive symptoms among employees. Depression and Anxiety 26:1040,1048, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Relations between characteristics of workplace practices and types of informal work-related learning: A survey study among Dutch PoliceHUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2008Anja J. Doornbos Some organizations seek to promote informal work-related learning to stimulate organizational performance. This study focuses on six types of work-related learning in relation to personal, relational, and work characteristics of the workplace practice. A survey was conducted to identify types and levels of work-related learning for executive Dutch police officers in terms of intentionality, developmental relatedness, and interaction partner's professional practice and hierarchical position. Analysis of the data found that police officers frequently learn from their peers and together. They learn from new and less-experienced colleagues infrequently. Of the nine characteristics of workplace practices researched in this study, some seemed to individually facilitate work-related learning; in particular, the individual's value of workrelated learning, possibilities for collegial feedback, and a relatively high level of work pressure seemed to stimulate informal work-related learning. Implications of the findings for HRD research and practice are discussed. [source] What aspects of the job have most effect on nurses?HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2003Abraham Sagie The study reported here compared the influences of psychological constructs (job demands and scheduling control) and objective work characteristics (shiftwork, night-work and hospital department type) on job satisfaction, organisational commitment, burnout and withdrawal intentions. Our hypothesis was that psychological constructs have a higher influence on work-related attitudes than objective characteristics of work schedules. In addition to the main effects, we proposed an interactive hypothesis: poor attitudes would result from high demands and low control rather than from other combinations of both psychological variables. Using a sample of 153 hospital nurses in Israel, the hypotheses were generally supported. As night-work, shiftwork and working in intensive care units are unavoidable characteristics of the modern medical environment, these findings are meaningful for improving the personal adjustment of hospital nurses. [source] Nurses' satisfaction with shiftwork and associations with work, home and health characteristics: a survey in the NetherlandsJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 12 2009Velibor P.J.M. Peters Abstract Title.,Nurses' satisfaction with shiftwork and associations with work, home and health characteristics: a survey in the Netherlands. Aim., This paper is a report of a study conducted to determine if satisfaction with irregular working hours that are a form of shiftwork operates as a mediator between work and home characteristics and health problems. Background., Shiftwork contributes to health problems, decreased well-being and poorer health habits. It also affects employees' decisions to leave the healthcare sector. Although many nurses voluntarily work shifts, there have been few studies of their satisfaction with irregular working hours when these are a form of shiftwork. Methods., A survey was carried out with 144 nurses working in three nursing homes and one care home in the Netherlands. Questionnaires were distributed in 2003 to 233 nurses who worked shifts (response rate 60%). The questionnaire contained items on work and home characteristics, satisfaction with irregular working hours that are a form of shiftwork and health. A new scale to measure satisfaction with irregular working hours was constructed. Results., All work characteristics, but no home characteristics, were associated with satisfaction with irregular working hours. The work characteristics ,job demands' and the home characteristics ,autonomy at home' and ,home demands' were associated with health. Satisfaction with irregular working hours did not mediate between work/home characteristics and health. Those reporting more social support, lower job demands and more job autonomy were more satisfied with their irregular working times that were a form of shiftwork. Conclusions., Satisfaction with irregular working hours is a useful construct that requires further longitudinal study. The results also underline the importance of considering home characteristics when predicting health outcomes. [source] Characterizing violence in health care in British ColumbiaJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 8 2009Rakel N. Kling Abstract Title.,Characterizing violence in health care in British Columbia. Background., The high rate of violence in the healthcare sector supports the need for greater surveillance efforts. Aim., The purpose of this study was to use a province-wide workplace incident reporting system to calculate rates and identify risk factors for violence in the British Columbia healthcare industry by occupational groups, including nursing. Methods., Data were extracted for a 1-year period (2004,2005) from the Workplace Health Indicator Tracking and Evaluation database for all employee reports of violence incidents for four of the six British Columbia health authorities. Risk factors for violence were identified through comparisons of incident rates (number of incidents/100,000 worked hours) by work characteristics, including nursing occupations and work units, and by regression models adjusted for demographic factors. Results., Across health authorities, three groups at particularly high risk for violence were identified: very small healthcare facilities [rate ratios (RR) = 6·58, 95% CI =3·49, 12·41], the care aide occupation (RR = 10·05, 95% CI = 6·72, 15·05), and paediatric departments in acute care hospitals (RR = 2·22, 95% CI = 1·05, 4·67). Conclusions., The three high-risk groups warrant targeted prevention or intervention efforts be implemented. The identification of high-risk groups supports the importance of a province-wide surveillance system for public health planning. [source] Resident-oriented care in nursing homes: effects on nursesJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 6 2004Afke J.M.B. Berkhout PhD Background., In a resident-oriented care model the assignment of patients to primary nurses takes place. These primary nurses are responsible for the total nursing care of their patients and make use of the nursing process. According to job demand-control models, these enlarged and enriched jobs can be described in terms of autonomy, job demands and social support, and the presence of these work characteristics has a positive influence on workers' psychological and behavioural outcomes. Aims., This paper reports a study to investigate the extent to which the various features of resident-oriented care were implemented and its effects nurses' on work characteristics and on psychological and behavioural outcomes in three Dutch nursing homes. Methods., In a quasi-experimental design, experimental and control groups were followed over 22 months, using a pretest and two post-tests with questionnaires, interviews and qualitative observations. Results., The quantitative data showed significant increases in resident assignment, the two variables measuring the nursing process and, in the psycho-geriatric experimental group, on resident-oriented tasks. The qualitative data showed that a partly task-oriented division of labour was still used and that the planned delegation of coordination tasks to primary nurses was not fully achieved. Effects on work perceptions were limited. After implementation of the new system, the experimental group showed an increase in job autonomy. Conclusions., The intervention appeared to be only partly successful. Most of the expected results regarding work characteristics and psychological and behavioural outcomes did not materialize. Theoretical and methodological reflections are presented in the light of these findings. [source] Work characteristics, challenge appraisal, creativity, and proactive behavior: A multi-level studyJOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2010Sandra Ohly Work characteristics such as time pressure and job control can be experienced as a challenge that is positively associated with performance-related behaviors. Using experience-sampling data from 149 employees, we examined the relationships between these work characteristics and creativity and proactive behavior on a daily level. Results from multilevel analyses indicate that time pressure and job control are perceived as challenging, and that challenge appraisal in turn is related to daily creativity and proactive behavior. Furthermore, cross-level mediation analyses revealed that daily work characteristics act as the mechanism underlying the relationships between chronic work characteristics and challenge appraisal. This study supports the view of time pressure as a challenge-related stressor that leads to favorable outcomes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Beyond top-down and bottom-up work redesign: Customizing job content through idiosyncratic dealsJOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 2-3 2010Severin Hornung Two established approaches to work redesign are formal top-down interventions and proactive bottom-up job crafting. Top-down approaches are limited in their ability to create individually optimized work characteristics, whereas bottom-up processes are constrained by the latitude workers have to modify their own jobs. Following recent research on the idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) individuals negotiate with their employer, task i-deals customizing job content are suggested as a third approach to work redesign. Hypotheses on antecedents and consequences of task i-deals were tested in two studies conducted in the United States and Germany using structural equation modeling. LMX related positively to the extent of successfully negotiated task i-deals, which, in turn, was associated with a more positive evaluation of work characteristics,specifically, higher complexity and control and lower stressors. Work characteristics mediated positive indirect effects of task i-deals on employee initiative and work engagement. Denied requests for task i-deals were associated with a more negative assessment of work characteristics. We conclude with theoretical, practical, and research implications for better understanding and implementing work redesign through i-deals. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Racial and ethnic disparities in low birth weight delivery associated with maternal occupational characteristicsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010John D. Meyer MD Abstract Objectives Work characteristics and maternal education have both been associated with low birth weight (LBW) delivery. We sought to examine the relative contribution of these two factors to LBW delivery and determine whether ethnic/racial differentials in educational attainment and work characteristics might play a role in well-described disparities in LBW. Methods Scores for work substantive complexity (SC) derived from the O*NET were imputed to maternal occupation for Connecticut singleton births in 2000. Risks for LBW were estimated separately for black, Hispanic, and white mothers using logistic regression controlling for maternal covariates. Results Using white mothers as a referent, working is associated with reduced LBW risk in black mothers compared to those not in work (OR 2.06 vs. 3.07). LBW in working black women was strongly associated with less that a high school education (OR 4.80, 95% CI 1.68,13.7), and with low work SC in blacks in those with a college education or greater (OR 4.48, 95% CI 1.24,16.2). Examination of work SC scores, controlling for age and educational level, showed lower values for blacks; increased work SC was seen in Hispanics after adjustment for lower educational attainment. A decrease in risk for LBW was seen in black mothers, compared with whites, as work SC increased. By contrast, college-educated black mothers had a greater risk for LBW than those with high school or some college education. Conclusions Maternal employment and work in a job with greater SC were associated with a reduced risk of LBW in black mothers. Improved LBW risk was also seen with employment in Hispanics. Low work SC in those with higher educational attainment was strongly associated with LBW in blacks, but not whites or Hispanics. Education/work mismatch may play a role in racial disparities in birth outcomes. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:153,162 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Effect of occupation and smoking on respiratory symptoms in working childrenAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2009Erkan Cakir Abstract Objectives To compare the respiratory symptoms and the lung function of children who work in different occupational groups. Methods The study was performed among children attending vocational training centers. The participants were evaluated in six different occupation groups. Chronic cough, wheezing and shortness of breath were evaluated by questionnaire. The association of independent variables with the respiratory symptoms was investigated through both univariate and multivariate methods. Results Among 642 children, 534 were males; the mean age was 17.7,±,1.0 years. Using an internal reference group, the odds ratios of chronic cough were significantly higher in the lathe (OR: 2.0, 95%CI: 1.07,3.74), coiffure (OR: 1.94. 95%CI: 1.01,3.70), and electricity-construction (OR: 2.63, 95%CI: 1.06,6.54) groups after adjustment for smoking, age, gender, and work characteristics. There were no significant differences in spirometric values between occupational groups in either smoking or non-smoking males. In non-smoking females, median values of FEV1 (P: 0.046), PEF (P: 0.005) and FEF25,75% (P: 0.019) were lower in the textile compared to the coiffure group. There was no significant association between the total working time and spirometric values. There was no statistically significant relationship between the work-related factors and the smoking status. Conclusions The prevalence of chronic cough was higher in the lathe, coiffure, and electricity-construction groups and pulmonary function tests were lower in the non-smoking textile female group. Working children should be screened for respiratory symptoms and disease. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:471,478, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Psychosocial Work Characteristics as Predictors of Affective Organisational Commitment: A Longitudinal Multi-Level Analysis of Occupational Well-BeingAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, Issue 2 2010Thomas Clausen The purpose of this study was to identify longitudinal associations between psychosocial work characteristics and affective organisational commitment among 6,299 employees in the Danish eldercare services. Individual-level measures and group-level measures of psychosocial work characteristics were included in multi-level analyses. At the workgroup level, quality of leadership, influence at work, emotional demands, and work pace predicted affective organisational commitment at follow-up. At the individual level, quality of leadership, influence at work, team climate, role ambiguity, and work pace predicted affective organisational commitment at follow-up. Finally, a multi-level model including both individual- and group-level measures showed that quality of leadership measured at the group level and influence at work and quality of leadership measured at the individual level contributed to predicting affective organisational commitment at follow-up, while adjusting for baseline levels of affective organisational commitment. The results thus imply that affective organisational commitment is conditioned by individual and contextual factors in the psychosocial work environment and that multi-level models add to our understanding of complex organisational phenomena. As affective organisational commitment can be considered an important constituent of occupational well-being, implications for interventions in the psychosocial work environment to increase affective organisational commitment are also discussed. [source] | |||||||||||||