Examination of socio-demographics and job satisfaction in Australian registered nurses

Aims and Objectives To examine relationships between socio-demographic factors and job satisfaction and to identify if these factors predict job satisfaction levels in an Australian registered nurses. Background Reports indicate that in Australia there are 30,000 qualified nurses no longer working in the healthcare and that current nursing shortages vary as a result of certain socio-demographic variables including type of nurse, geographic, location, sector, service and organisation. Furthermore it has been revealed that there is not only a real shortage but also a pseudo-shortage (i.e. either there are not enough nurses are available, or not enough are willing to work under existing workplace conditions). International studies have found significant relationships exist between some socio-demographic factors and job satisfaction in registered nurses however there is limited information available on relationships between socio-demographic factors and job satisfaction in nurses in the Australian context. Design A cross sectional survey was undertaken of Australian registered nurses. Methods Two thousand Australian registered nurses who were members of an industrial and professional organisation were sent the questionnaire in 2008. They were stratified and randomised according to gender. Six hundred and thirty-nine registered nurses responded. Descriptive analyses, correlation analyses, one- way ANOVA tests, simple linear regression and multivariable analyses were conducted to examine further if any relationships existed between the variables. Results The majority of respondents showed positive job satisfaction scores. An ANOVA found significant positive relationships existed between job satisfaction, specialty area, health sector and Australian states. Multivariable analyses found relationships existed between specialty area, health sector, and job satisfaction. Conclusions The variables specialty area and health sector were found to be significantly associated with job satisfaction. The different specialty areas and health sectors in relation to job satisfaction should be investigated further. Clinical Relevance The study results have provided new knowledge for policy makers, organisational and nursing leaders of the socio-demographic variables that may affect job satisfaction in registered nurses in the Australian context.

Approaches to access control under uncertainty

The ultimate goal of an access control system is to allocate each user the precise level of access they need to complete their job - no more and no less. This proves to be challenging in an organisational setting. On one hand employees need enough access to the organisation’s resources in order to perform their jobs and on the other hand more access will bring about an increasing risk of misuse - either intentionally, where an employee uses the access for personal benefit, or unintentionally, through carelessness or being socially engineered to give access to an adversary. This thesis investigates issues of existing approaches to access control in allocating optimal level of access to users and proposes solutions in the form of new access control models. These issues are most evident when uncertainty surrounding users’ access needs, incentive to misuse and accountability are considered, hence the title of the thesis. We first analyse access control in environments where the administrator is unable to identify the users who may need access to resources. To resolve this uncertainty an administrative model with delegation support is proposed. Further, a detailed technical enforcement mechanism is introduced to ensure delegated resources cannot be misused. Then we explicitly consider that users are self-interested and capable of misusing resources if they choose to. We propose a novel game theoretic access control model to reason about and influence the factors that may affect users’ incentive to misuse. Next we study access control in environments where neither users’ access needs can be predicted nor they can be held accountable for misuse. It is shown that by allocating budget to users, a virtual currency through which they can pay for the resources they deem necessary, the need for a precise pre-allocation of permissions can be relaxed. The budget also imposes an upper-bound on users’ ability to misuse. A generalised budget allocation function is proposed and it is shown that given the context information the optimal level of budget for users can always be numerically determined. Finally, Role Based Access Control (RBAC) model is analysed under the explicit assumption of administrators’ uncertainty about self-interested users’ access needs and their incentives to misuse. A novel Budget-oriented Role Based Access Control (B-RBAC) model is proposed. The new model introduces the notion of users’ behaviour into RBAC and provides means to influence users’ incentives. It is shown how RBAC policy can be used to individualise the cost of access to resources and also to determine users’ budget. The implementation overheads of B-RBAC is examined and several low-cost sub-models are proposed.

Examination of factors affecting caring efficacy, job satisfaction in Australian registered nurses

Research Question: What relationships exist between general self efficacy, locus of control and the nursing practice environment and caring efficacy and job satisfaction? Background: Important characteristics of current nursing practice include nurses having the ability to develop and continue therapeutic relationships with patients, nurses having autonomy and control over the practice environment and nurses having more involvement in decision making. In addition, employee satisfaction is enhanced when organisations offer access to authority. Despite this, nurses continue to complain of feeling powerless in their ability to make decisions. Sample: The study population and criteria for selection included Registered Nurses in Australia who were at the time members of an Australian professional and industrial organisation. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive and bivariate statistics, and structural equation modelling. Results: The model fit the data well (χ² = 2.3594, χ²/df = 2.3594 and CFI = 0.9987). Twenty four percent of variation in caring efficacy (CE) can be accounted for by general self-efficacy (GSE); work locus of control (WLC) and practice environment (PE) and 62% of the variation in job satisfaction (JS) can be accounted for by GSE, WLC and PE. All pathways were found to be significant except PE to CE. GSE positively explained CE (β = 0.38). WLC was negatively related to CE i.e., as CE scores increased WLC scores decreased (β = -0.23). Further testing of the model found CE was positively related to GSE (βZ = 0.38, p < 0.001) and negatively related to WLC (βZ = - 0.23, p = 0.001). PE was not significantly associated with CE (βZ = - 0.01, p = 0.85). JS was explained by PE, which was positively related (βZ = 0.69, p = < 0.001); GSE which was negatively related (βZ - 0 .09, p < 0.001) and WLC, which was also negatively related (βZ = - 0.20, p < 0.001). Implications for Practice Nursing and organisational leaders should ensure the development of strategies for professional development and orientation programmes which may enhance nurses’ ability to develop caring relationships and express caring behaviours to their patients and as a result improve organisational and patient outcomes. Nursing shortages and turnover rates are associated with job satisfaction and the nursing practice environment. Improving the nursing environment can produce benefits to the health system such as better job satisfaction, improved workforce retention and better patient outcomes.

Self-determination, control, and reactions to changes in workload : a work simulation

The objective of this experimental study is to capture the dynamic temporal processes that occur in changing work settings and to test how work control and individuals' motivational predispositions interact to predict reactions to these changes. To this aim, we examine the moderating effects of global self-determined and non-self-determined motivation, at different levels of work control, on participants' adaptation and stress reactivity to changes in workload during four trials of an inbox activity. Workload was increased or decreased at Trial 3, and adaptation to this change was examined via fluctuations in anxiety, coping, motivation, and performance. In support of the hypotheses, results revealed that, for non-self-determined individuals, low work control was stress-buffering and high work control was stress-exacerbating when predicting anxiety and intrinsic motivation. In contrast, for self-determined individuals, high work control facilitated the adaptive use of planning coping in response to a change in workload. Overall, this pattern of results demonstrates that, while high work control was anxiety-provoking and demotivating for non-self-determined individuals, self-determined individuals used high work control to implement an adaptive antecedent-focused emotion regulation strategy (i.e., planning coping) to meet situational demands. Other interactive effects of global motivation emerged on anxiety, active coping, and task performance. These results and their practical implications are discussed.

Employee reactions to behavioural control under conditions of stress: The moderating role of self-efficacy

Extensive research conducted in the occupational stress literature has failed to provide convincing support for the stress-buffering effects of work control on employee adjustment. Drawing on research conducted in the laboratory context, it was proposed that the stress-buffering effects of work control on employee adjustment would be more marked at high, rather than low, levels of self-efficacy. In a sample of 100 customer service representatives, a significant three-way interaction among role conflict, work control and self-efficacy (measured at Time 1) was observed on (low) depersonalization (measured at Time 2). Consistent with expectations, work control reduced the negative effects of work stress on this outcome measure only for employees who perceived high levels of self-efficacy at work. In addition, there was evidence to suggest that self-efficacy moderated the main effects of work control on job satisfaction and somatic health. These findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical contribution to the job strain model, and also in relation to workplace interventions designed to improve levels of employee adjustment.

Mature age job seekers: the role of proactivity

Purpose In the context of demographic and economic changes, helping mature age job seekers find employment is imperative. The purpose of this paper is to examine mature age job seekers’ proactive personality as a moderator of the relationship between age and job search intensity; and to examine job search self-efficacy as a mediator of this moderation effect. It was hypothesized that the generally negative relationships between age and job search self-efficacy and intensity are weaker among job seekers with a more proactive personality. Design/methodology/approach In total, 188 job seekers between 40 and 64 years completed an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings Consistent with previous research, age was negatively related to job search intensity. Proactive personality was positively related to job search intensity and moderated the relationship between age and job search intensity. Extending previous research, proactive personality also positively predicted job search self-efficacy and moderated the relationship between age and job search self-efficacy which, in turn, positively predicted job search intensity. Research limitations/implications Potential limitations of the study include the cross-sectional design, sample selectivity, and the omission of possibly important control variables. Practical implications Practitioners, organizations, and societies concerned with helping mature age job seekers find employment could provide additional support to those with a less proactive personality and low job search self-efficacy. Originality/value This study extends previous research by showing that mature age job seekers’ job search self-efficacy mediates the moderating effect of proactive personality on the relationship between age and job search intensity.

Within-person relationships between daily individual and job characteristics and daily manifestations of career adaptability

Previous research showed that daily manifestations of career adaptability fluctuate within individuals over short periods of time, and predict important daily job and career outcomes. Using a quantitative daily diary study design (N = 156 employees; 591 daily entries), the author investigated daily job characteristics (i.e., daily job demands, daily job autonomy, and daily supervisory career mentoring) and daily individual characteristics (i.e., daily Big Five personality characteristics, daily core self-evaluations, and daily temporal focus) as within-person predictors of daily career adaptability and its four dimensions (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence). Results showed that daily job demands, daily job autonomy, daily conscientiousness, daily openness to experience, as well as daily past and future temporal focus positively predicted daily career adaptability. Differential results emerged for the four career adaptability dimensions. Implications for future research on within-person variability in career adaptability are discussed.

Daily manifestations of career adaptability: Relationships with job and career outcomes

Most research on career adaptability has examined the construct as an individual differences variable and neglected that it may vary within an individual over a short period of time. In two daily diary studies, the author investigated the relationships of career adaptability and its four dimensions (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence) to their daily manifestations as well as daily job and career outcomes. Both Study 1 (N = 53) and Study 2 (N = 234) demonstrated substantial within-person variability in employees' behavioral expressions of career adaptability across five work days. Results further showed that daily career adaptability and daily confidence positively predicted daily task and career performance, as well as daily job and career satisfaction. Daily control positively predicted daily task performance, as well as daily job and career satisfaction. Daily concern positively predicted daily career performance and satisfaction, and daily curiosity positively predicted daily career satisfaction.

A solution framework for scheduling a BPM with non-identical job dimensions

A Batch Processing Machine (BPM) is one which processes a number of jobs simultaneously as a batch with common beginning and ending times. Also, a BPM, once started cannot be interrupted in between (Pre-emption not allowed). This research is motivated by a BPM in steel casting industry. There are three main stages in any steel casting industry viz., pre-casting stage, casting stage and post-casting stage. A quick overview of the entire process, is shown in Figure 1. There are two BPMs : (1) Melting furnace in the pre-casting stage and (2) Heat Treatment Furnace (HTF) in the post casting stage of steel casting manufacturing process. This study focuses on scheduling the latter, namely HTF. Heat-treatment operation is one of the most important stages of steel casting industries. It determines the final properties that enable components to perform under demanding service conditions such as large mechanical load, high temperature and anti-corrosive processing. In general, different types of castings have to undergo more than one type of heat-treatment operations, where the total heat-treatment processing times change. To have a better control, castings are primarily classified into a number of job-families based on the alloy type such as low-alloy castings and high alloy castings. For technical reasons such as type of alloy, temperature level and the expected combination of heat-treatment operations, the castings from different families can not be processed together in the same batch.

Generating artificial chromosomes with probability control in genetic algorithm for machine scheduling problems

In this paper, a novel genetic algorithm is developed by generating artificial chromosomes with probability control to solve the machine scheduling problems. Generating artificial chromosomes for Genetic Algorithm (ACGA) is closely related to Evolutionary Algorithms Based on Probabilistic Models (EAPM). The artificial chromosomes are generated by a probability model that extracts the gene information from current population. ACGA is considered as a hybrid algorithm because both the conventional genetic operators and a probability model are integrated. The ACGA proposed in this paper, further employs the ``evaporation concept'' applied in Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) to solve the permutation flowshop problem. The ``evaporation concept'' is used to reduce the effect of past experience and to explore new alternative solutions. In this paper, we propose three different methods for the probability of evaporation. This probability of evaporation is applied as soon as a job is assigned to a position in the permutation flowshop problem. Experimental results show that our ACGA with the evaporation concept gives better performance than some algorithms in the literature.

Tied to the job: affective and relational components of nurse retention

Paper investigates whether affective and relational components of nurses' experience of work have a significant impact on their intentions to leave either the job or the nursing profession in models that control for other factors (sociodemographic, work conditions, perceptions of quality of care) that are known to affect career decisions. [Abridged Abstract]

Job strain as a risk factor for coronary heart disease:a collaborative meta-analysis of individual participant data

BACKGROUND: Published work assessing psychosocial stress (job strain) as a risk factor for coronary heart disease is inconsistent and subject to publication bias and reverse causation bias. We analysed the relation between job strain and coronary heart disease with a meta-analysis of published and unpublished studies. METHODS: We used individual records from 13 European cohort studies (1985-2006) of men and women without coronary heart disease who were employed at time of baseline assessment. We measured job strain with questions from validated job-content and demand-control questionnaires. We extracted data in two stages such that acquisition and harmonisation of job strain measure and covariables occurred before linkage to records for coronary heart disease. We defined incident coronary heart disease as the first non-fatal myocardial infarction or coronary death. FINDINGS: 30?214 (15%) of 197?473 participants reported job strain. In 1·49 million person-years at risk (mean follow-up 7·5 years [SD 1·7]), we recorded 2358 events of incident coronary heart disease. After adjustment for sex and age, the hazard ratio for job strain versus no job strain was 1·23 (95% CI 1·10-1·37). This effect estimate was higher in published (1·43, 1·15-1·77) than unpublished (1·16, 1·02-1·32) studies. Hazard ratios were likewise raised in analyses addressing reverse causality by exclusion of events of coronary heart disease that occurred in the first 3 years (1·31, 1·15-1·48) and 5 years (1·30, 1·13-1·50) of follow-up. We noted an association between job strain and coronary heart disease for sex, age groups, socioeconomic strata, and region, and after adjustments for socioeconomic status, and lifestyle and conventional risk factors. The population attributable risk for job strain was 3·4%. INTERPRETATION: Our findings suggest that prevention of workplace stress might decrease disease incidence; however, this strategy would have a much smaller effect than would tackling of standard risk factors, such as smoking. FUNDING: Finnish Work Environment Fund, the Academy of Finland, the Swedish Research Council for Working Life and Social Research, the German Social Accident Insurance, the Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment, the BUPA Foundation, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the US National Institutes of Health.

Job strain and the risk of severe asthma exacerbations: A meta-analysis of individual-participant data from 100 000 European men and women

Background: Many patients and healthcare professionals believe that work-related psychosocial stress, such as job strain, can make asthma worse, but this is not corroborated by empirical evidence. We investigated the associations between job strain and the incidence of severe asthma exacerbations in working-age European men and women. Methods: We analysed individual-level data, collected between 1985 and 2010, from 102 175 working-age men and women in 11 prospective European studies. Job strain (a combination of high demands and low control at work) was self-reported at baseline. Incident severe asthma exacerbations were ascertained from national hospitalization and death registries. Associations between job strain and asthma exacerbations were modelled using Cox regression and the study-specific findings combined using random-effects meta-analyses. Results: During a median follow-up of 10 years, 1 109 individuals experienced a severe asthma exacerbation (430 with asthma as the primary diagnostic code). In the age- and sex-adjusted analyses, job strain was associated with an increased risk of severe asthma exacerbations defined using the primary diagnostic code (hazard ratio, HR: 1.27, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.00, 1.61). This association attenuated towards the null after adjustment for potential confounders (HR: 1.22, 95% CI: 0.96, 1.55). No association was observed in the analyses with asthma defined using any diagnostic code (HR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.86, 1.19). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that job strain is probably not an important risk factor for severe asthma exacerbations leading to hospitalization or death.

Training control centers' operators in incident diagnosis and power restoration using intelligent tutoring systems

The activity of Control Center operators is important to guarantee the effective performance of Power Systems. Operators’ actions are crucial to deal with incidents, especially severe faults like blackouts. In this paper, we present an Intelligent Tutoring approach for training Portuguese Control Center operators in tasks like incident analysis and diagnosis, and service restoration of Power Systems. Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) approach is used in the training of the operators, having into account context awareness and the unobtrusive integration in the working environment. Several Artificial Intelligence techniques were criteriously used and combined together to obtain an effective Intelligent Tutoring environment, namely Multiagent Systems, Neural Networks, Constraint-based Modeling, Intelligent Planning, Knowledge Representation, Expert Systems, User Modeling, and Intelligent User Interfaces.

Managing talent through developmental job experiences (DJE): The mediating role of DJE between HPWS and employees' outcomes

In the competitive landscape of the 21st century, effectively managing human capital in firms is considered to be a potential source of sustainable performance. Therefore, in this study, we tested the influence of high-performance work systems, as a talent management tool, on employees’ experience of developmental jobs. Then, we tested the mediating effect of such experiences on employees’ engagement, exhaustion, performance and turnover intention. With a sample of 254 employees of a diversity of companies and sectors of activity, our findings demonstrated that high-performance practices increase engagement, via the promotion of developmental experiences of fit, which improves performance and decreases turnover intention. Besides, those practices do not control for the pressure dimension of the developmental job experiences that increases exhaustion and turnover intention despite not worsening performance.