Introduction
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and secondary traumatic stress disorder (STSD) are mental conditions that commonly plague persons working in highly stressful environments such as militaries. These mental conditions also affect these persons due to prolonged exposure to stressors that strain their psychological state. When this strain remains unchecked for a long, PTSD and STSD develop. For persons like militarians and doctors, traumatic experiences come with the profession and thus cannot be avoided. It can be controlled by taking shifts in departments within their career that are mildly stressful. This break gives them time for the brain to recover and prevent burnout and PTSD, and STSD. Thus, recovery time is essential in avoiding PTSD and STSD in the workplace.
Nursing is an example of a stressful profession. During practice, nurses constantly see suffering persons seeking healthcare. Nurses in the emergency department especially frequently engage with patients in extreme pain and sometimes witness patients dying. These events affect them mentally. Resulting distress causes strain on their mental state. Because they are constantly on duty, they do not get enough time for rest, which is the time for mental relaxation. The strain persists and eventually leads to PTSD and STSD.
I believe demanding jobs such as nursing require rotation of workers’ shifts. This rotation involves interchanging workers from various sectors such that the employees from challenging departments, such as the emergency sector, switch places with those from mildly stressful departments. The distressed workers’ minds relax during this shift, and the strain built up is relieved. If the relaxation period is long enough, the brain fully recovers, and the risk factor for PTSD and STSD is eliminated (Levy 366). The effectiveness of this healing is seen in their improved performance.
The rotation of workers in stressful occupations is essential in an organization. Rotation facilitates recovery from distressful situations, which increases the self-efficacy of these individuals (Molero Jurado et al. Par 3). Stress can lead to PTSD and STSD, mental conditions that lower an individual’s productivity. This low productivity results from a lack of motivation and fatigue associated with mental disorders (Molero Jurado et al. Par 3). An organization should adopt a rotation of workers’ approach to counter these impacts. I believe this approach is better than dealing with stress often.
Shift changes prevent the prevalence of stress, which promotes the mental well-being of workers (Molero Jurado et al. Par 3). Healthy workers are more productive than unhealthy ones. Promoting health reduces cases of absenteeism and sick leaves, which promotes overall productivity in the company (Levy 365). Furthermore, it is a humanitarian thing to do. Health is a significant determinant of the well-being of workers. Thus organizations should aim for this goal because it is the right thing to do.
Despite these benefits of rotating workers, this approach could be disadvantageous. Constant shifting might result in underperformance due to ineffective coordination between former and current shifts (Zorrilla-Riveiro 394). For a profession like nursing, where workers are actively working, rough transitions of shifts can be harmful to patients when their information is not availed. The current group is meant to continue where the previous group stopped; information on this stopping point is critical. Otherwise, this can quickly become chaotic and lower job performance.
Conclusion
If not treated for a prolonged period, occupational stress becomes PTSD and STSD. These conditions are primarily common in highly-demanding jobs like nursing. Workers’ rotation can prevent these mental conditions, whereby a group from a less stressful post takes over the currently overwhelmed group allocated to a mildly stressful post. Rotation allows this group to recover and prevent the risk for PTSD and STSD.
Works Cited
Levy, Paul E. Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Workplace. Worth Publishers, Macmillen Learning, 2020.
Molero Jurado, María, et al. “Burnout Risk and Protection Factors in Certified Nursing Aides.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 15, no. 6, 2018, p. 1116. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061116.
Zorrilla-Riveiro, José G. “Work Shift in the Hospitals’ Emergency Departments: The Spanish Experience.” European Journal of Emergency Medicine, vol. 26, no. 6, 2019, pp. 394–395. https://doi.org/10.1097/mej.0000000000000637.
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