Dissertation Ideas

Implications Of These Literatures For The Present Study

Present study draws a number of implications from the researches using PE Fit theory. First, the concept of congruence or "fit" has been judged to be useful by a variety of researchers and used to assess not only individual productivity in work settings, but also the health and well-being of individuals in varied settings. The impact of the physical work environments on work-related stress in operating theatres has not been examined. This would seem to indicate that the use of the theory in nursing work environments would not be inappropriate. However, if the impact is significant, theory-based interventions can be developed and tested for their impact. Types of attributes within physical work environments that a nurse would consider important and desirable, to support their productivity and well-being have not been examined, either. This is noteworthy given that nurses constitute the largest percentage of clinical workers within hospital settings and a chronic nursing shortage is expected to continue.Dissertation Ideas

CHAPTER THREE-METHODOLOGY

Rationale for the Study

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of job-stress on operating theatre personnel. As such a qualitative study design using literature review method was used to explain the impact of work-related stress on operating theatre personnel and understand the factors causing stress. In the process the study sought to examine major factors causing stress, conflicts, and solutions to these conflicts as well as workplace conditions in the healthcare profession and the difference of workplace conditions between healthcare profession and other professions.

Useful articles and books featuring balanced and valid studies were both identified and critically appraised (Rees 2003) - reviews that had been published on the study topic by accredited scholars and researchers (Ridley 2008) directly related to the study question.

Each article was subjected to critical questioning which included the following:

• Is the article related to our topic?

• Is the topic clearly defined?

• Is it important and clearly established?

• Have all possible related factors analyzed and researched?

• Has the author evaluated relevant articles by verifying references?

• How useful was the article?

(Hart 1998) stated that the review should compare and contrast different authors’ views on one issue, by gathering similar articles by different authors with the same conclusions and criticizing the methodology of the article.

The search strategy to scan research articles databases was adopted using the Metlib searching tools, Pubmed, Web of Science, Amed (Ovid), British Nursing Index (Ovid), Cinahl, Allied Health Literature (EBSCO), Embase, Scopus (Elsevier) Web of Knowledge and Zeto current articles relevant to “Impact of Stress on Operating Theatre Personnel”.

Keywords and the search terms found in the proposal, conflict, operating theatre, job stressors, stress, healthcare, nursing, occupational stress etc. were used. The other search term was ‘occupational stress and”. A total of 100 references cited in articles were accessed and reviewed for additional publications targeting the period from the year 2000 onwards. For example ‘Symptoms of stresses” released 10 articles whereas ‘sources of work stress’ 50 articles. The articles which were found relevant to the study were recorded and Google scholar was used to read these articles. Of all researches conducted, 20 were relevant to the study. Some articles will be reviewed while others will be used to compare between authors’ views. Basic search was carried out combining subjects with ‘and’ or ‘Or’.

Limitations and Delimitations

This study was carried out via the literature review methodology. Use of this method depends upon the accuracy of the research conducted, attitudes of the researcher, and other relevant information. Some notable limitations to be acknowledged are, the validity of the research work already done and that the responses may be unnatural due to the subjective perceptions of the researchers. Finally, it is indirect research so a direct contact with the operating theatre personnel would have been more valid Dissertation Ideas

Contribution of the Study

The literature used provides an analysis of the factors causing stress and its impact on operating theatre personnel. The extensive literature on stress definitions, stress development, workplace stress, healthcare and nursing profession, interpersonal conflicts in the operating theatre departments, the impact of stress on performance of the operating theatre personnel has been primarily focusing on the operating theatre personnel. Since Taylor (1911) developed the concept of scientific management in the early 1910s, the notion of standardizing job-related tasks has changed the way organizations function around the world. By simplifying the task each worker performs, Taylor’s principles allow organizations to apply systematic coordination methods in order to optimize productivity (Muchinsky, 2003).

Research Design

This study explored stress factors and impact of stress on the operating theatre personnel. The primary research question explored was: What impact does stress has on operator. As a methodology design the study used a qualitative studying design, i.e. literature review method to explain the impact of work-related stress on operating theatre personnel. The finally selected articles were examined and critically analyzed for rigor of the research and identified themes that recur across settings and can be applied to staff in the operating theatre. Additionally, correlation analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between the challenges faced by the operating theatre personnel and their impact on performance and health. Review of the latest research and co-relate them for a specific purpose has been done. By gathering information that “describes the nature and extent of a specified set of data ranging from physical counts and frequencies to attitudes and opinions,” researchers can analyze problems through systematic, representative, objective, and quantifiable research design (Isaac & Michael, 1995).

Data Collecting and Analysis

The selected articles were reviewed and related to analyze the job stress factors and their impact on operating theatre personnel. The selection of literature review based research design was the best approach for the data collection process of this study as the researcher intended to offer a broader explanation of work related stress covering a variety of previous researches. Mostly, in the nursing fields, researchers have relied on the meta analysis or the critical literature review methods for data collection and analysis as it offers greater flexibility and choice of collecting data from wider perspective. Dissertation Ideas