Factors that Affect the Quality of Life of Caregiving Nursing Technicians of Psychiatric Patients

Mihael  Djacic; Snezana  Radovanovic; Nebojsa  Zdravkovic; Vladislava   Stojic; Stefan  Milojevic; Albert  Darijan; Stefani  Lazin; Ilija Glisic  Glisic; Milos  Stepovic; Tatjana Boskovic  Matic

doi:10.18502/ijph.v54i9.19863

Mihael Djacic Special Psychiatric Hospital “Dr Slavoljub Bakalović”, Vrsac, Serbia
Snezana Radovanovic Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Nebojsa Zdravkovic Department of Medical statistics and informatics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Vladislava Stojic Department of Medical statistics and informatics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Stefan Milojevic Faculty of Business Economics, EDUCONS University, Serbia
Albert Darijan Department of the High School of Health, Academy of Applied Studies Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Stefani Lazin Synapse Center Vrsac, Vrsac, Serbia
Ilija Glisic Glisic TIM-D MEDICAL Specialist Clinic, Leskovac, Serbia
Milos Stepovic Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia
Tatjana Boskovic Matic Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v54i9.19863

Keywords: Nurses-technicians; Brief resilience scale; Quality of life

Abstract

Background: The importance of the role of nurse technicians lies in the fact that they are becoming the main providers of health care for psychiatric patients, in addition to providing them with appropriate care. We aimed to examine predictors of quality of life of nurse technicians caring for psychiatric patients.

Methods: The sample consisted of 260 nurse technicians caring for psychiatric patients at the Special Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases "Dr Slavoljub Bakalović" in Vršac and the Special Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases in Kovin, Serbia. The following instruments were used in the study: a questionnaire to collect sociodemographic characteristics, the World Health Organization Quality of Life Self-Assessment Questionnaire – Short Version, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, the Brief Resilience Scale, and the Fatigue Assessment Scale – FAS Serbian and the Zarit Stress Interview.

Results: On the physical and mental aspects of the quality of life of medical technicians, the greatest negative impact is the physical aspect of fatigue (P=0.036) and anxiety (P=0.017), and the positive impact is the number of household members (P=0.001). On the environmental aspect of the quality of life, the greatest negative impact is the burden of caregivers (P=0.000).

Conclusion: Due to unique working environment of care-giving medical nurses, the quality of life has become very considering aspect. Fatigue, stress, anxiety can have a cumulative effect of those individuals, and lead to the burnout syndrome.