Job satisfaction and life habits of nurses/technicians in the outpatient emergency medical service in the Republic of Croatia during the COVID-19 disease pandemic

Bolest COVID-19 je uzrokovana novim koronavirusom naziva SARS-CoV-2. Radi se o pandemiji bolesti koja je izravno imala utjecaj na organizaciju, a primjeri su nabavka i osiguranje dovoljne količine zaštitne opreme, edukacija zdravstvenih djelatnika kako se ista koristi, te promjena radnog vremena u svrhu što boljeg funkcioniranja zdravstvene zaštite. Sve navedeno povećalo je razinu stresa među zdravstvenim djelatnicima kod kojih je zamijećeno češće obolijevanje od fizičkih i psihičkih bolesti. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi utjecaj pandemije COVID-19 bolesti na organizaciju rada izvanbolničke hitne medicinske službe (IHMS) te je li i u kojoj je mjeri sve to utjecalo na zadovoljstvo poslom i kvalitetu privatnog života medicinskih sestara i medicinskih tehničara zaposlenih u IHMS-u. Istraživanje je provedeno distribucijom anketnog upitnika, online preko društvenih mreža među djelatnicima IHMS-a zaposlenim na radnom mjestu medicinska sestra/medicinski tehničar u vrijeme pandemije COVID-19 bolesti. Istraživanje je provedeno u listopadu 2021. godine. Uzorak je bio prigodan te je u istraživanju sudjelovalo 165 sudionika, prosječne dobi 37 godina. Na temelju dobivenih odgovora prikupljenih anketom, napravljena je statistička obrada podataka uz grafički prikaz dobivenih rezultata. Prikaz podataka bio je tekstualni i slikovni (grafikoni i tablice). Od alata koristio se program MS Word za obradu teksta te MS Excel za statističku obradu podataka i prikaz grafikona i tablica. Sudjelovanje u istraživanju je dobrovoljno i anonimno te su sudionici mogli odustati u bilo kojem trenutku ispunjavanja upitnika. Zahtjev za odobrenje provedbe istraživanja predan je Etičkom povjerenstvu za odobravanje istraživanja u okviru diplomskog rada Sveučilišta Sjever koje je nakon pozitivne evaluacije dostavljenog prijedloga s tročlanim povjerenstvom izdalo suglasnost za provođenje predloženog istraživanja. Prema rezultatima istraživanja medicinske sestre/tehničari IHMS-a zadovoljni su plaćom, ali smatraju kako trebaju dobiti veći dodatak u vrijeme pandemije COVID-19 bolesti te nisu zadovoljni kada su u pitanju ostale novčane nagrade i dodaci. Nadalje, sudionici izražavaju zadovoljstvo nadređenom osobom, ali smatraju kako odnos prema svim zaposlenima nije jednak. Medicinske sestre/tehničari IHMS-a su zadovoljni i dostupnim resursima u vrijeme pandemije COVID-19 bolesti, ali ne i organizacijom posla. Međuljudski odnosi je jedini aspekt posla kod kojeg su zaposlenici većinom zadovoljni sa svakim njegovim segmentom (dobar odnos s kolegama, otvorena komunikacija, ravnopravnost članova unutar timova). Na temelju provedenog istraživanja može se zaključiti kako su medicinske sestre/tehničari u izvanbolničkoj hitnoj medicinskoj službi u vrijeme pandemije COVID-19 bolesti većinom zadovoljni poslom, nisu povećali konzumaciju opojnih sredstava u odnosu na razdoblje prije pandemije COVID-19 bolesti te većinom imaju dobre prehrambene navike.COVID-19 illness is caused by a new coronavirus strain SARS-CoV-2. This pandemic disease has had direct influence on organization, procurement and assurance of adequate availability of safety equipment , and the additional education of healthcare workers, with accommodation of work schedules to provide smoother functioning of the healthcare system. All of this has added, an additional level of stress among healthcare providers and has shown to increase disease-illnesses, both physical and psychological. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of the pandemic COVID-19 illness on the work organization of out of hospital emergency medical teams (IHMS) and to what extent this effects job satisfaction and quality of personal life, in the lives of nurses and medical technicians within the IHMS. The research was performed by distributing a survey, online over social media among IHMS workers, nurses and medical technicians who were employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted in October 2021. The study sample size was 165 participants, mean age of 37 years. On the basis of collected responses by the survey, a statistical analysis of the data with graphical presentation of obtained results was created. Data was presented by both text and illustrations (graphs and tables). Tools used were the program MS Word for text and MS Excel for statistical analysis. Participation within the study was voluntary and anonymous. The participants could choose to leave the study at any time. A request for research approval was applied for through the Ethics Trust Committee for research approval in the scope of a graduate thesis from The Northern University (Sveučilište Sjever). Following a three member panel committee, a positive evaluation was recieved and given permission for the planned research to begin. The results of the study showed that nurses and medical technicians in IHMS were satisfied with their salary, but felt they should recieve additional compensation for the time worked during the pandemic COVID-19. They were not satisfied with money awards and benefits which were dispersed. Furthermore, participants had expressed satisfaction with their superiors, but felt the relationship with workers was not equal. Nurses and medical technicians in the IHMS were satisfied with availability of resources during the pandemic, but not with work organization. The interpersonal work relationship, the majority of workers were satisfied with, including: colleague relations, open communication, equality within in the team. On the basis of research results it is possible to conclude that nurses and medical technicians, in the out of hospital emergency medical service setting, during the pandemic COVID-19 , are largely satisfied with their jobs, did not increase in taking opiate substances, as during the period prior to the pandemic, and the majority had established continued good nutritional habits