Taking care of workers in health organizations. Work related-stress evaluation and organizational change.

Abstract

The issue of work-related stress (SLC) is receiving increasing attention within the European Union because of the considerable economic consequences and in term of work performance. Furthermore, it is now clear that the most efficient organizations are those with satisfied employees and a healthy work context, as demonstrated by the Gallup Organization (2004). This is especially true in the health sector, whose ultimate goal is to provide high quality services for citizens. The aim of this project is the experimentation of preventive integrated actions on work related stress within six health public organizations of the Tuscany Region. The research work has involved about 8,142 subjects belonging to different areas. The dimensions that were most critical within the different health organizations were “Quality of relationships with colleagues”, “Psychophysical well-being” and “Reward and recognition”, according to WOAQ (Work Organization Assessment Questionnaire, Griffiths & Cox, 2006) subscale analysis, placing these health organizations in a band of medium risk. With regards to the latter dimension, it should be noted that if a poor reward and a low recognition on one side produces a strong sense of work dissatisfaction, on the other side it indicates the presence of a pool of not fully expressed potentialities that, if properly managed, may increase both the level of well-being perceived by the operators and the quality of performance in public services, even in a period of financial crisis.