CC BY
12PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT AND PRESTIGE OF HEALTHCARE
SPECIALISTS
Shopov Dimitar Georgiev
MD, PhD, Chief Assistant Prof. Department of Social Medicine and Public Health Medical University - Plovdiv,
Bulgaria Stoeva Teodora Radeva Senior health care University Hospital "Sv. George" - Plovdiv Bulgaria
ABSTRACT
The role of the personal factor (physicians, nurses, health officers) for a patient's life and health is exceptional. This also includes the level of professional qualification and the available knowledge and skills, as well as the personal qualities reflected in the process of communication and the devotion to one's official duties. The purpose of the present study is to establish the level and nature of the professional interests through the prism of the length of service, prospects for development and career opportunities of the nurses. Subject of the study are medical institutions from the region of Plovdiv. An anonymous sociological questionnaire was carried out among 100 nurses. The responses to the questions express opinions related to the professional accomplishment and prestige of the healthcare specialists.
Keywords: length of service, professional interests, career, nurses
Introduction:
The profession of a nurse occupies an important role in the system of public health. Along with the social development, it has improved and expanded it activities. Passing through the stages of religious enlightenment, craft, charity, it has gradually transformed into an independent profession with theoretical knowledge acquired in higher educational establishments and profound practical experience.[2;3] It has established itself with its highly humane mission in society, subjecting itself to the norms of professional ethics and deontology.
The expanding volume of nursing activities requires balance between the technical skills of the nurse and the establishment of relations with the patients.[5;6]
Thus it is able to meet the patients' needs and to perform its professional obligations, including emotional support during the process of treatment.
The professional conduct of a nurse is governed by a code of ethics. In some countries special attention is paid not only to the high-quality technical performance of the activities, but also to the relations between the nurse and the patient.[9;11] Standards of professional behaviour have been implemented in order to govern and describe the borders of the occurring relations. The aim of the standards is to protect not only the patient but also the nurse against non-professional behaviour. [12;13]
The full-valued professional accomplishment and career of the nurses in Bulgaria is still a problem with pending solution. It has become an issue in the past decade. It is due to a number of reasons — underestimation of the nursing care by the health managers and physicians, unclear criteria for professional career, unjust low remuneration, etc. [15] The medical staff in the country is aging along with the entire population. The average age of the healthcare specialists exceeds 48 years.
The problems of the nurses in Bulgaria must be analyzed in their integrity in order to be efficiently resolved in the interest of the public health. In this direction, the professional career and motivation and the related level of satisfaction of the nurses are a topical issue.[17;18]
The purpose of the present study is to analyze the professional relations between physicians and nurses in the light of prospects and opportunities of the nurses for professional career and
satisfaction. [20]
In order to achieve the outlined objective, the following tasks should be resolved:
- Development of a specific questionnaire for individual anonymous sociological questionnaire among the nurses of different length of service.
- Anonymous sociological questionnaire among the nurses in hospitals in Plovdiv
- Processing of the collected primary information and analysis of the data obtained;
- Substantiation of the organizational approaches to optimization of the professional relations and satisfaction of the nurses.
Materials and methods:
Subject of observation are hospitals in Plovdiv. The logical units are the questioned healthcare specialists. The questionnaire was carried out within the period from 4 January 2016 to 4 April 2016. Upon development of the questionnaires the main requirements of the method have been observed, namely:
• A clearly formulated purpose of the study and unconditional dependence of its public and social significance;
• Maximum economy of time of the respondents;
• Complete anonymity and discretion.
Upon statistical processing of the collected primary information, variational, alternative and non-parametrical analysis have been used. For illustration of the processes and phenomena observed, as well as of certain regularities, graphic design was used. The collected database has been processed by a computer using the statistical package SPSS version 19 and Microsoft Excel. 100 nurses have been included in the direct individual anonymous survey.
Results and discussion:
The hospitals are organizational structures where physicians with the help of other medical and non-medical staff carryout diagnostic and treatment activity for the purpose of satisfying the medical needs of the population. The specialist nurses carry out work related to assistance to the physician for the manipulations, treatment procedure and diagnostic tests of the patients, prescribed by him.
A questionnaire with 19 questions has been developed for
the study of the opinion of the respondents (nurses). (32.2%) belongs to those with length of service from 11 to 20
100 nurses took part in the survey. The respondents have years, followed by those with over 30 years of service (29.4%) different length of service (Chart 1). The highest per cent and the lowest length of service (0-10 years) - 18.8%.
Chart 1
Medical length of servise
32,20%
18,8
I
29,40%
19,60%
□ CMOyears ■ 11-20years
□ 21-30years
□ over30years
From the questionnaire we shall review several questions related to the prospects for professional and career development of nurses, partnership between colleagues as seen and evaluated by the physicians working with them. The responses comply with the groups by length of service.
Teamwork is very important in the proces of treatment. The answers to the question „To what extent the requirements that your managers have towards you in the course of work coincide with your professional interests?" are graphically presented in Chart 2.
Chart 2
To what extent the requirements that your managers have towards you in the course of work coincide with your professional interests?
l Il tr 1'
0-10 years 11-20 years 21-30years over30years
□ They coincide completely 0% 20% 25% 37,50%
■ Theycolncideto a large extent 75% 66,70% 41,70% 37,50%
□They tend not to coincide 12,50% 13,30% 25% 6,30%
□They do not coincide 12,50% 0% 8,30% 18,70%
As seen from the chart, the highest per cent (75%) coincidence of requirements and professional interests belongs to the group of nurses with length of service from 0 to 10 years, followed by those with 11-20 years (66.7%). This could be explained by youth. A young person, when completes his education, starts work with desire to develop himself and has professional interests coinciding with the manager's
requirements. The higher length of service is characterized by more automatism of action and professional fatigue which leads to less coincidence between requirements and interests.
On these grounds the responses to the question „Do you believe that there are conflicts between physicians and nurses" are logical. (Chart 3).
Chart 3
Do you believe that there are conflicts between physicians and nurses?
I Ida
0-10 years 11-20 years 21-30years over30years
□ Often 25% 33,30% 41,70% 31,30%
■ Seldom 75% 66,70% 58,30% 56,20%
□ Never 0% 0% 0% 12,50%
The highest per cent (41.7%) of positive answer is given by the nurses with length of service from 21 to 30 years and (31.3%) by those over 30 years.
The highest per cent (75%) of negative answer is given by the nurses with length of service from 0 to 10 years and (66.7%) by
those from 11 to 20 years.
The opinion of the respondents participating in the questionnaire, to the question „Do you feel that the physicians give the desired and just appreciation of your activity as a nurse" is visualized in Chart 4.
Chart 4
Do you feel that the physicians give the desired and just appreciation of your activity as a nurse?
Jj
1 11 11 JL
0-10 11-20 21- over
years years 30years 30years
□ Yes 12,50% 0% 0% 18,70%
■ Partially 25% 66,70% 50% 37,50%
□ No 62.50% 33.30% 50% 43.80%
The highest per cent of elusive positive answer is given by nurses with length of service from 11 to 20 years (66.7%), followed by those with length of service from 21 to 30 years (50%). The summit of the professional skills and professional expression is obviously revealed in the period of service from 11 to 30 years.
The highest negative answer (62.5%) has been given by
nurses with length of service from 0 to 10 years. The theoretical knowledge acquired in the university are often insufficient for practicing of the professional activity.
The question „Do you have clear prospects and opportunities for your development and career as a nurse" is fundamental (Chart 5).
Chart 5
Do you have clear prospects and opportunities for your development and career as a nurse?
Hi Hill
0-10 years 11-20 years 21-30years over 30years
□ Yes 37,50% 40% 25% 43,80%
■ Partially 50% 26,70% 33,30% 18,70%
□ No 12,50% 33,30% 41,70% 37,50%
The highest per cent (37.5% + 50%) belongs to the positive and partially positive answer of the nurses with length of service from 0 to 10 years, followed by those with length of service from 11 to 20 years.
Conclusions:
1. The length of service is an important factor for the formation of a professional overview, place and role of the nurses in the team of health workers.
2. The public prestige of the profession is traditionally low, mainly because of the low social status, insufficient payment and the subordinate role of the healthcare professionals.
3. Young people who have recently obtained their diplomas complying with the requirements of the European standards, search for opportunities to work abroad. Well trained nurses, midwives, laboratory assistants and rehabilitation therapists are leaving the country. Abroad their remuneration is much higher and they are able to obtain higher satisfaction with the practicing of the profession.
4. A complex analysis of the problems of the nurses in Bulgaria is necessary, with subsequent efficient solutions in the interest of the public health.
Bibliography:
1. Georgieva, I. et al Professional burnout in nurses and approaches to overcome
Sestr. delo. MP, 39, 2007, N 4, 7-14
2. Georgieva, Z. Professional Burnout in nursing -factor for patient satisfaction of health care. Zdrav. ikonom. i menidzhment, 13, 2013, N 4, 58-61
3. Krasteva, N. The new role of the nurses with higher education in Bulgaria - health care faculties in medical universities. Sestr. delo. MP, 32, 2000, N 4, 3-5
4. Mancheva, L. et al. Health behavior of nurses from hospitals for active treatment. Trakia j. sciences. Series biomed. sci., 6, 2008, 3, 64-67
5. Marinova, P. Directions in nurse career Khig. i
zdraveop., 42, 1999, N 1, 5-7
6. Marnova, P.Character and growing importance of professional adaptation and career' of medical nurses. Sots. med., 7, 1999, N 3, 28-29
7. Mitova, M. The senior nurses about the quality of nurse education. Sestr. delo. MP, 28, 1996, N 2, 9-13
8. Nedelcheva, Sv. et al. Research of the factors satisfaction and stimulus for work of the nurses Zdravni grizhi, 2, 2004, N 4, 16-19
9. Nisheva, V. et al. Burn-out syndrome in nurses. Sestr. delo. MP, 36, 2004, N 3, 3-9
10. Petkov, D. et al. Influence of workplace over nursing activities. Sots. med., 5, 1997, N 2, 34-35
11. Petrova, P. A nurses' individual assessment system. Zdravni grizhi, 6, 2008, N 3, 38-40
12. Shopov, D. et al. Professional realization and motivation of nurses. Sestr. delo. MP, 47, 2015, N 1, 25-29
13. Shtereva-Nikolova, N. Satisfaction and self-assessment of work ethics in nursing.Sestr. delo. MP, 46, 2014, N 1, 16-20
14. Stambolova, I. et al. Conflict situations in nurses' practice. Zdrave i nauka, 2, 2012, N 3, 308-311
15. Stoeva, T. et al. Professional career and realization of nurses. Zdravni grizhi, 12, 2014, N 1, 32-38,
16. Stoyanova, M. Work environment factors and the risk of workplace stress nurses.Zdrave i nauka, 5, 2015, N 3, 24-29
17. Todorova, M. Burn-out syndrome in doctors and nurses.Sestr. delo. MP, 39, 2007, N 2,39-44
18. Todorova, N. et al. Self-assessment of the nurses' communicative skills. Zdravni grizhi, 5, 2007, N 3, 18-22
19. Tzenova, B. et al. Psychosocial factors and stress in nursing.Probl. hig., 20, 1999, N 1, 23-31
20. Veleva, N European market for nurses - current situation and trends. Sots. med., 14, 2006, N 1-2, 55-57
