Work

Patients are not fully human: a nurse's coping response to stress

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: In this article, dehumanization of patients was studied as a strategy used by nurses to cope with stress. Affective organizational commitment ( AOC ) and affective commitment to patients ( ACP ) were tested as moderators. We also explored how nurses' humanity attributions to their in‐group relate to stress symptoms. Participants were nurses working in different wards of an Italian urban hospital. Findings showed that perceiving patients as not fully human was related to lower levels of stress symptoms for nurses with high AOC and ACP , but not for nurses with low AOC and ACP . Moreover, for highly committed nurses, the attribution of uniquely human traits to the in‐group was associated with increased stress symptoms. Implications of findings for the relationship between nurses and patients are discussed.

Source: Journal of Applied Social Psychology

DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12267

Authors: Elena Trifiletti, Gian Antonio Di Bernardo, Rossella Falvo, Dora Capozza

Institutions: University of Verona, University of Padua

Language: English

Topic: Stress and Burnout Research

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: Università degli Studi di Padova