Reduced Mental Workload of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurses through a Self‑designed Education Class: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Maryam Mohamadi, Mahboobeh Namnabati, Akram Aarabi

Abstract


Background: One of the factors affecting the behavior and performance of nurses is mental workload. Training programs can improve the attitude, knowledge, and performance of nurses. However, the impact of these programs on mental workload is not clear. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate and compare the effect of two conventional and self‑designed education classes on the mental workload of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses.

Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 68 nurses, divided into two intervention and control groups. Subjects of the intervention group attended a social awareness reinforcement class, in which one of the dimensions of emotional intelligence was introduced and covered. Research tool was the mental workload questionnaire of National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA‑TLX).

Results: In this research, results of the paired t‑test were indicative of a significant decrease in the mean score of mental workload immediately after the intervention (t = 1.48, p < 0.001) and one month later (t = 1.11, p = 0.007). Moreover, a significant difference was observed in the mean score of mental workload of the intervention group between before and after the conventional education class, and before and 1 month after the self‑designed class using repeated‑measures analysis of variance (F = 21.31, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: According to the results of the study, the conventional education class had no impact on the mental workload, whereas the self‑designed class significantly decreased mental workload. Therefore, it is suggested that education programs be conducted for NICU nurses to improve their emotional intelligence, which leads to decreased level of mental workload.


Keywords


Education, emotional intelligence, Iran, nurses, workload

Full Text:

PDF

References


Safari S, Mohammadi‑Bolbanabad H, Kazemi M. Evaluation mental work load in nursing critical care unit with national aeronautics and space administration task load index (NASA‑TLX). Health Syst Res 2013;9:613‑9.

Neill D. Nursing workload and the changing health care environment: A review of the literature. Educ Pract Res 2011;1:132‑43.

Mohammadi M, Mazloumi A, Kazemi Z, Zeraati H. Evaluation of mental workload among ICU ward’s nurses. Health Promot Perspect 2015;5:280‑7.

Ghanbary Sartang A, Ashnagar M, Habibi E, Sadeghi S. Evaluation of rating scale mental effort (RSME) effectiveness for mental workload assessment in nurses. J Occup Health Epidemiol 2016;5:211‑7.

Rusnock CF, Borghetti BJ. Workload profiles: A continuous measure of mental workload. Int J Ind Ergon 2018;63:49‑64.

Baggs JG, Schmitt MH, Mushlin AI, Mitchell PH, Eldredge DH, Oakes D, et al. Association between nurse‑physician collaboration and patient outcomes in three intensive care units. Crit Care Med 1999;27:1991‑8.

Alken LH, Clarke SP, Sloane DM. Hospital staffing, organization, and quality of care: Cross‑national findings. Int J Qual Health Care 2010;14:5‑13

Myny D, Van Goubergen D, Gobert M, Vanderwee K, Van Hecke A, Defloor T, et al. Non‑direct patient care factors influencing nursing workload: A review of the literature. J Adv Nurs 2011;67:2109‑29.

Cheung E. Extreme workload affects ability of Hong Kong psychiatric nurses to care for their patients. Health & Environment; 2017. Available at: http://www.scmp.com/news/ hong‑kong/healthenvironment/article/2072164/extreme‑workload ‑affects‑ability‑hong‑kong.2017. [Last accessed on 2018 Apr 10].

Hong E, Lee YS. The mediating effect of emotional intelligence between emotional labour, job stress, burnout and nurses’ turnover intention. Int J Nurs Pract 2016;22:625‑32.

Kim SH, Lee MA. Effects of emotional labor and communication competence on turnover intention in nurses. J Korean Acad Nurs Adm 2014;20:332‑41.

Tomar R. A study of emotional intelligence among nurses. Int J Nurs Res Educ 2016;4:5204‑11.

Tambag H, Kaykunoglu M, Gunduz Z, Demir Y. Emotional intelligence levels of nursing students and influencing factors. J Educ Res Nurs 2014;11:41‑6.

Gokalp K, Ekinci M. Nurse’s emotional intelligence level and the factors affecting the level of emotional intelligence. Int Referred J Nurs Res 2016;19:19‑28.

Furnham J. Emotional and Social Intelligence: Insights from the Emotional Quotient Inventory. 2nd ed. London: Jossey‑Bass; 2009. p. 87‑95.

Beauvais AM, Brady N, O’Shea ER, Griffin MT. Emotional intelligence and nursing performance among nursing students. Nurse Educ Today 2011;31:396‑401.

Kooker BM, Shoultz J, Codier EE. Identifying emotional intelligence in professional nursing practice. J Prof Nurs 2007;23:30‑6.

Coladonato AR, Manning ML. Nurse leader emotional intelligence: How does it affect clinical nurse job satisfaction? Nurs Manage 2017;48:26‑32.

Holston EC, Talor JY. Emotional intelligence in nursing students. Int J Adv Psychol 2017;5:11‑22.

Bagheri M, Hasanpour M, Ghaedi Heidari F, Hasanzadeh A. Emotional intelligence of nursing students in different educational levels. J Nurs Educ 2017;6:33‑9.

Thomas DS, Natarajan JR. Emotional intelligence among nursing students – An integrated review. J Nurs Health Sci 2017;6:81‑9.

Mohamed SM, Nagy F. Emotional intelligence and job stress among academic members at faculty of nursing – Cairo University. J Nurs Health Sci 2017;6:10‑9.

Duglas LM. The Effective Nurse Leader Manager. 3rd ed. St Louis: Mosby; 2009. p. 209.

Mohamadirizi S, Fahami F, Bahadoran P, Ehsanpour S. The effect of four‑phase teaching method on midwifery students’ emotional intelligence in managing the childbirth. J Educ Health Promot 2015;4:47.

Budnik MF. Emotional Intelligence and Burnout: Influence on the intent of Staff Nurses to Leave Nursing. Phoenix: University of Phoenix; 2009. p. 207.

Ghorbani M. Personal and Observational Methods to Assess the Workload on the Assembly Line of An Auto Industry. Proceeding of the 8th National Conferences on Safety and Health Working. Sari, Iran 2013. [In Persian].

Mohammadi M, NaslSeraji J, Zeraati H. Developing and accessing the validity and reliability of a questionnaire to assess the mental workload among ICUs Nurses in one of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences hospitals. J Sch Public Health Inst Public Health Res 2013;11:87‑96.

Malekpour F, Mohammadian Y, Malekpour A, Mohammadpour Y, Sheikh Ahmadi A, Shakarami A. Assessment of mental workload in nursing by using NASA‑ TLX. Urmia Nurs Midwifery Fac 2014;11:23‑36.

astiezaie N, Jenaabadi H, Jalalzaei S. The effect of time management training on student’s test anxiety. J Nurs Educ 2016;5:12‑22.

Schwendimann R, Dhaini S, Ausserhofer D, Engberg S, Zúñiga F. Factors associated with high job satisfaction among care workers in Swiss nursing homes – A cross sectional survey study. BMC Nurs 2016;15:37.

Shahshahani MS, Salehi S, Rastegari M, Rezayi A. The study of optimal nursing position in health care delivery system in Iran. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res 2010;15:150‑4.

Akhoondlotfali P, Khankeh H, Fallahikhoshkenab M, Hoseinzade S. The effect of emotional intelligence training on Nurses’ job conflict. J Health Promot Manage 2013;1:7‑16.

Gignac GE, Karatamoglou A, Wee S, Palacios G. Emotional intelligence as a unique predictor of individual differences in humour styles and humour appreciation. Pers Individ Differ 2014;56:34‑9.

Abualrub RF, Gharaibeh HF, Bashayreh AE. The relationships between safety climate, teamwork, and intent to stay at work among Jordanian hospital nurses. Nurs Forum 2012;47:65‑75.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.