Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T08:40:04.228Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Enhancing meaning in palliative care practice: A meaning-centered intervention to promote job satisfaction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2006

LISE FILLION ,
RÉJEANNE DUPUIS ,
ISABELLE TREMBLAY ,
GASTON-RENÉ DE GRÂCE  and
WILLIAM BREITBART
LISE FILLION
Affiliation:
Faculty of Nursing, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada Cancer Research Centre (CRC), Laval University, CHUQ, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
RÉJEANNE DUPUIS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ISABELLE TREMBLAY
Affiliation:
Cancer Research Centre (CRC), Laval University, CHUQ, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
GASTON-RENÉ DE GRÂCE
Affiliation:
Laval University, School of Psychology, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
WILLIAM BREITBART
Affiliation:
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, New York, New York
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives: This article introduces a new meaning-centered psycho-educational group intervention, called Enhancing meaning in palliative care nursing, designed to support nurses providing palliative care. This intervention aims at increasing job satisfaction and quality of life, as well as preventing burnout in this particular population.

Theoretical frameworks: Its format and content are founded on the meaning-centered psychotherapy approach developed for terminally ill cancer patients (Breitbart, 2001; Greenstein & Breitbart, 2000). Frankl's existential therapeutic approach, called logotherapy, serves as the underlying theoretical framework to this intervention.

Development: Following the presentation of the context and the development of the intervention, its content is described.

Conclusion: A brief description of the ongoing randomized controlled trial testing the intervention is then provided. Finally, the way in which this intervention could contribute to nurses' quality of life and suggestions for future developments are briefly discussed.

Keywords

MeaningPalliative care nursingGroup interventionExistentialPsycho-education
Type
Research Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , December 2006 , pp. 333 - 344
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Albom, M. (1997). Tuesdays with Morrie: A Young Man, an Old Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group.
Alexander, D.A. & Rotchie, E. (1990). Stressors' and difficulties in dealing with the terminal patients. Journal of Palliative Care, 6, 28–33.Google Scholar
Antonovsky, A. (1987). Unraveling the Mystery of Health: How People Manage Stress and Stay Well. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bandura, A. (1997). Exercise of personal agency. In Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control, Bandura, A. (ed.), pp. 10–33. New York: W.H. Freeman.
Beehr, T.A., Jex, S.M., Stacy, B.A., et al. (2000). Work stressors and coworker support as predictors of individual strain and job performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 391–405.Google Scholar
Breitbart, W. (2001). Spirituality and meaning in supportive care: Spirituality and meaning-centered group psychotherapy interventions in advanced cancer. Supportive Care in Cancer, 10, 272–280.Google Scholar
Brooks, N.A. & Matson, R.R. (1982). Social-psychological adjustment to multiple sclerosis: A longitudinal study. Social Science and Medicine, 16, 2129–2135.Google Scholar
Brun, J.-P., Biron, C., Martel, J., et al. (2003). Évaluation de la santé mentale au travail: Une analyse des pratiques de gestion des ressources humaines (Études et recherches). Montreal, QC: Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail.
Calnan, M., Wainwright, D., & Almond, S. (2000). Job strain, effort-reward imbalance and mental distress: A study of occupations in general medical practice. Work and Stress, 14, 297–311.Google Scholar
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (2002). Hospice palliative care nursing standards of practice. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association and The Waymire Foundation.
Carver, C.S., Scheier, M.F., & Weintraub, J.K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267–283.Google Scholar
Cox, T., Griffiths, A., & Rial-Gonzalez, E. (2000). Research on work-related stress. Luxembourg: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Office for Official Publications for the European Communities.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row.
de Jonge, J., Bosma, H., Peter, R., et al. (2000). Job strain, effort-reward imbalance and employee well-being: A large-scale cross-sectional study. Social Science and Medicine, 50, 1317–1327.Google Scholar
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A.B., Nachreiner, F., et al. (2000). A model of burnout and life satisfaction among nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32, 454–464.Google Scholar
Dupuis, R. & Fillion, L. (2005). Finding Meaning in Palliative Care Practice: The Training Manual for Facilitators. Unpublished manuscript, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Ersek, M., Kraybill, B.M., & Hansberry, J. (1999). Investigating the educational needs of licensed nursing staff and certified nursing assistants in nursing homes regarding end-of-life care. American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care, 16, 573–582.Google Scholar
Farrell, M. (1998). National palliative care education and training needs analysis. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 7, 60–67.Google Scholar
Fillion, L., Bairati, I., Dumont, S., et al. (2003a). Essai randomisé sur l'efficacité d'une intervention existentielle et psycho-éducative à augmenter la satisfaction au travail et la qualité de vie des infirmières en soins palliatifs. Étude subventionnée par la Fondation canadienne de recherche sur les services de santé (FCRSS, programme RC2-0946,05)
Fillion, L., Saint-Laurent, L., Dupuis, R., & Tremblay, I. (2006). La gratification liée à la pratique en soins palliatifs: Témoignages d'infirmiéres. Submitted to Cahiers des soins palliatifs.
Fillion, L., Saint-Laurent, L., & Rousseau, N. (2003b). Les stresseurs liés à la pratique infirmière en soins palliatifs: les points de vue des infirmières. Les Cahiers de Soins Palliatifs, 4, 5–40.Google Scholar
Folkman, S. (1992). Making the case for coping. In Personal Coping: Theory, Research, and Application, Carpenter, B.N. (ed.), pp. 31–46. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group.
Frankl, V.E. (1955). The Doctor and the Soul. An Introduction to Logotherapy. Oxford, England: A.A. Knopf.
Frankl, V.E. (1967). Logotherapy. Israel Annals of Psychiatry and Related Disciplines, 5, 142–155.Google Scholar
Frankl, V.E. (1987). Logotherapy and the challenge of suffering. Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, 20, 1–3.Google Scholar
Geiger-Brown, J., Muntaner, C., Lipscomb, J., et al. (2004). Demanding work schedules and mental health in nursing assistants working in nursing homes. Work and Stress, 18, 292–304.Google Scholar
Greenstein, M. & Breitbart, W. (2000). Cancer and the experience of meaning: A group psychotherapy program for people with cancer. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 54, 486–500.Google Scholar
Hannan, S., Norman, I.J., & Redfern, S.J. (2001). Care work and quality of care for older people: A review of the research literature. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 11, 189–203.Google Scholar
Holahan, C.J., Moos, R.H., Holahan, C.K., et al. (1995). Social support, coping, and depressive symptoms in a late-middle-aged sample of patients reporting cardiac illness. Health Psychology, 14, 152–163.Google Scholar
Horowitz, M.J. (1990). Stress, states, and person schemas. Psychological Inquiry, 1, 25–26.Google Scholar
Humpel, N., Caputi, P., & Martin, C. (2001). The relationship between emotions and stress among mental health nurses. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 10, 55–60.Google Scholar
Katz, R.S. & Genevay, B. (2002). Our patients, our families, ourselves: The impact of the professional's emotional responses on end-of-life care. American Behavioral Scientist, 46, 327–339.Google Scholar
Lamau, M.L. (1994). Manuel de soins palliatifs. Toulouse, France: Privat.
Lawoko, S., Joaquim, J.F., & Nolan, P. (2004). Violence towards psychiatric staff: A comparison of gender, job and environmental characteristics in England and Sweden. Work and Stress, 18, 39–55.Google Scholar
Lazarus, R.S. & Folkman, S. (Eds.). (1984). Stress, Appraisal and Coping. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Levek, M.L. & Jones, C.B. (1996). The nursing practice environment, staff retention, and quality of care. Research in Nursing Health, 19, 331–343.Google Scholar
Martin, L.L. & Tesser, A. (1989). Toward a motivational and structural theory of ruminative thought. In Unintended Thought, Bargh, J.A. (ed.), pp. 306–326. New York: Guilford Press.
McConnel, K.J. (1998). The role of meaning and ministry in job satisfaction. Unpublished manuscript, Vancouver, British-Columbia.
Moreau, M., Valente, F., Mak, R., et al. (2004). Occupational stress and incidence of sick leave in the Belgian workforce: The Belstress study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 58, 507–516.Google Scholar
Moskowitz, J.T., Folkman, S., Collette, L., et al. (1996). Coping and mood during AIDS-related caregiving and bereavement. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 18, 49–57.Google Scholar
Murrant, G.M., Rykov, M., Amonite, D., & Loynd, M. (2000). Creativity and Self-Care for Caregivers. Journal of Palliative Care, 16(2), 44–49.Google Scholar
Niedhammer, I., Tek, M.L., Starke, D., et al. (2004). Effort-reward imbalance model and self-reported health: Cross-sectional and prospective findings from the GAZEL cohort. Social Science and Medicine, 58, 1531–1541.Google Scholar
Park, C.L. & Folkman, S. (1997). Meaning in the context of stress and coping. Review of General Psychology, 1, 115–144.Google Scholar
Parker, P.A. & Kulik, J.A. (1995). Burnout, self- and supervisor-related job performance, and absenteeism among nurses. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 18, 581–599.Google Scholar
Parry, J.K. (1989). Mutual support group for hospice staff: Planned or ad hoc. Journal of Palliative Carre, 5, 34–36.Google Scholar
Plante, A. & Bouchard, L. (1995). Occupational stress, burnout, and professional support in nurses working with dying patients. Omega, 32, 93–109.Google Scholar
Radziewicz, R.M. (2001). Self care for the caregiver. Nursing Clinics of North America, 36(4), 855–869.Google Scholar
Ramirez, A., Addington-Hall, J., & Richards, M. (1998). The carers. British Medical Journal, 316, 208–211.Google Scholar
Rosengren, A., Hawken, S., Ounpuu, S., et al. (2004). Association of psychosocial risk factors with risk of acute myocardial infarction in 11119 cases and 13648 controls from 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): Case-control study. Lancet, 364, 953–962.Google Scholar
Rowe, M.M. & Sherlock, H. (2005). Stress and verbal abuse in nursing: Do burned out nurses eat their young? Journal of Nursing Management, 13, 242–248.Google Scholar
Stanton, A.L., Danoff-Burg, S., Cameron, C.L., et al. (1994). Coping through emotional approach: Problems of conceptualization and confounding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 350–362.Google Scholar
Stanton, A.L., Kirk, S.B., Cameron, C.L., et al. (2000). Coping through emotional approach: Scale construction and validation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 1150–1169.Google Scholar
Ulrich, R., Quan, X., Zimring, C., et al. (2004). The Role of the Physical Environment in the Hospital of the 21st Century: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity. Report to the Center for Health Design for the Designing the 21st Century Hospital Project. New York: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Vachon, M.L.S. (1995). Staff stress in hospice/palliative care: A review. Palliative Medicine, 9, 91–122.Google Scholar
Vachon, M.L.S. (1999). Reflections on the history of occupational stress in hospice/palliative care. The Hospice Journal, 14, 229–246.Google Scholar
Van Staa, A.L., Visser, A., & Van der Zouwe, N. (2000). Caring for caregivers: Experiences and evaluation of interventions for a palliative care team. Journal of Palliative Care, 41, 93–105.Google Scholar
Verhaeghe, R., Mak, R., Van-Maele, G., et al. (2004). Job stress among middle-aged health care workers and its relation to sickness absence. Stress and Health, 19, 265–274.Google Scholar
Wilkes, L., Beale, B., Hall, E., et al. (1998). Community nurses' descriptions of stress when caring in the home. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 4, 14–20.Google Scholar
Wong, P.T.P. (1997). Meaning-centered counseling: A cognitive-behavioral approach to logotherapy. International Forum for Logotherapy, 20(2), 85–94.Google Scholar
Yang, M.S., Pan, S.M., & Yang, M.J. (2004). Job strain and minor psychiatric morbidity among hospital nurses in southern Taiwan. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 58, 636–641.Google Scholar