Assesment of psychoemotional stress among pharmacy professionals

SUMMARY Assesment of Psychoemotional Stress among Pharmacy Professionals Lolita Stražnickienė’s and Danguolė Žilionienė’s Master’s Thesis, supervisor – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dovilė Karčiauskaitė, Study Programme of Pharmacy, Department of Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vth year of studies, 2017. Goal: Assess the psychoemotional stress of a pharmacy professional and determine the most influential factors of the working environment. Research methods. A quantitative research method of a questionnaire survey was chosen for the research. Data analysis was performed using the methods of descriptive statistics. The data of the analysis was processed using the SPSS 15.0 version software package of data accumulation and statistical analysis, applying the T-criterion of independent samples, the Pearson correlation coefficient, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, Cronbach’s α coefficient, using crosstabs analysis, comparative analysis of averages, and ANOVA dispersion analysis. Research outcomes. During the research 313 pharmacy professionals working in various pharmaceutical companies and organizations were questioned. After analysis of the data received, it was found that pharmacy professionals working in public pharmacies experienced a greater psychoemotional stress because of a direct contact with patients but it did not have a significant impact on the overall level of stress. Education among the respondents questioned (63.3 per cent (n=199) pharmacists and 36.4 per cent (n=114) pharmacist’s assistants (pharmacy technicians)) also did not have a significant impact on the overall level of stress. Statistically important results were received when evaluating the relationship between work conflicts and the position held. Pharmacy professionals working at management level experienced a greater psychoemotional stress as compared to other pharmacy professionals. Pharmacy professionals, working less than 36 hours a week and those working more than 36 hours a week experienced a bigger psychoemotinal stress than pharmacy professionals working 36 hours a week. Among the respondents questioned, women were more satisfied with their work than men. A significant difference in job satisfaction was noticed among the respondents receiving a salary of less than 870€ and a salary of 871€ and more, however, job satisfaction did not depend on the measures of motivation and incentives at work. Professional recognition was the greatest positive impact on job satisfaction. Conclusions. 1. Of all working environment factors analyzed in the research, the greatest psychoemotional stress on pharmacy professionals working in all pharmaceutical companies was caused by dealing with difficult patients, situations when their work is checked by employees of state institutions, administration or other employees, when the salary is too low and the work load is too big. Psycoemotional stress was also caused by working time. The research revealed that pharmacy professionals who worked 36 hours a week suffered a lower psychoemotional stress as compared to those who worked more than 36 hours or less than 36 hours a week. 2. An overall level of psychoemotional stress did not depend on the fact what pharmaceutical company they worked for. The level of psychoemotional stress of pharmacy professionals working in public pharmacies was greater because of a direct contact with patients while in other pharmaceutical companies the level of psychoemotional stress was higher because of conflicts in the working environment. 3. The relationship between the overall stress experienced by pharmacy professionals and job satisfaction was weak, therefore it cannot be stated that an overall psychoemotional stress had a direct impact on job satisfaction. Professional recognition was the greatest positive impact on job satisfaction