2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 A Study of HealthCare Employees’ Opinions about Stress Patterns in the UAE Belal Barhem Abu Dhabi University, College of Business Administration Hassan Younies* UAE University, College of Business and Economics This study aims to investigate workplace stress and its related patterns (sources, patient’s interaction, and coping strategies) among health care employees in the UAE. A sample of 175 respondents from different health organizations in the public and private sectors of health care in the UAE participated in the study. The results show significant relationships between role ambiguity and age and between role conflict and age and marital status. The patients as a source of workplace stress constitute the only factor related to the nature of the job and to income. The correlation and regression analysis for coping strategies revealed that self-knowledge as a coping strategy related significantly to the nature of the job and the years of experience. Wide interests were affected significantly by age, marital status and the nature of the job; and flexibility and being active and productive similarly related significantly to the type of organization. KEY WORDS: UAE, work stress, health care * Corresponding Author, hassan.younies@uaeu.ac.ae June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 1 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 Introduction Workplace stress is a continual problem facing managers at all levels in all types of organization. It generates increasing public and media concern and its cost at work is significantly increasing. Although stress is inherent in life (Modern Business Report, 1975) and human behavior (Auerbach and Gramling, 1998), workplace stress is not confined to the workplace, but it is frequently brought home as well (Doby and Caplan, 1995). Increasingly, employers, trade unions, and health and safety representatives at work are finding guidance on the nature and causes of the problem and on the organizational requirements relating to its prevention and control. A number of factors have to be considered in the study of stress, for example, the multidimensionality of the nature of workplace stress, the definition of stress, the direct relationship between stress and behavior, coping with stress and the increasing negative effects of stress on work. The multidimensionality of stress, according to Hogan and Joyce (1982), is evidenced by the fact that it takes different forms and is the concern of different fields, for example, Clinical and Applied Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Psychosomatic Medicine, Industrial Relations and Epidemiology. It is useful to clarify that stressors can derive from any component of the quality of life, whether economic, physical, emotional, social, intellectual or spiritual, as discussed by Girdano et al (1993). Stress can influence individual behavior either negatively or positively. Many researchers, such as Spielberger (1979), believe that workplace stress is one of the most important factors affecting productivity because of the direct relationship between individual behavior and the stress experienced. June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 2 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 Referring to the literature on workplace stress, some researchers have understood stress as person-environment fit (Bhagat et al, 1995; Mass, 1981; ILO, 1984). The study by Bhagat et al, (1995) defined stress as “a problematic level of environmental demand that interacts with the individual to change his/her psychological or physiological condition such that the person (mind or/and body) is forced to deviate from normal functioning”. Arroba and James (1987), however, define stress as a result of pressure. It is first necessary to understand the person and environmental circumstances before the cause of stress is understood (Lazarus, 1995). Spielberger and Sarason (1986) find that the environment must be dealt with first, which means that multiple variables have first to be tackled. Another dimension in defining, according to Matteson and Ivancivich (1987), is “an adaptive response, moderated by individual differences, that is a consequence of any action, situation, or event that places special demands upon a person.” Similarly, Barhem et al (2004) define stress as an extraordinary state affecting individual human functions as an outcome of internal and external factors which differ qualitatively (having different types of stressors) and quantitatively (having different numbers of stressors) from individual performance, due to individual differences. Alternatively, Hendrix et al (1995) define stress as “an uncomfortable cognitive state resulting from exposure to a stressor that can result in psychological and physiological strain.” Fontana (1989), for his part, defines stress in relation to personal capabilities ‘a demand made on the adaptive capacities of the mind and body’. The factors related to job stress and work conditions need to be defined accurately. Among physicians, various stressors have been found in connection with job stress (Lee, June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 3 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 1986; Scheiber, 1987; Butterfield;1988 Richardsen and Burke, 1991). Among the factors causing them job stress are work demands, excessive work load, long duty hours, financial problems, conflict between professional and personal life, problems with patients and those related to the occurrence of death (Mawardi, 1979, Charles et al, 1987; Richardsen and Burke, 1991). A significant relationship has also been found between interactions with colleagues, inadequacy of perceived professional knowledge, diagnosis and treatment process, stress in dialogues with patients and the degree of psychological morbidity (Tattersall et al, 1999) and responsibility, (Heim, 1992). Boredom with providing the same services over time may also help to explain workplace stress (Locke 1976) and consistent exposure to chronic and difficult clients could be another cause. A further important aspect of workplace stress is its relationship to individual differences (gender, age, educational level, cultural differences such as religion, experience, etc.). Individual staff members bring their own personal characteristics to the job, which may contribute to factors leading to work dissatisfaction and burnout (Rockwell et al, 1995). Vedat et al (2004) listed other factors causing stress in health care professionals, such as marital status, age, professional career, unfairness in promotion opportunities, imbalance between jobs and responsibilities, conflict with colleagues, responsibilities of role, long and tiring work hours, problems experienced with patients and their relatives, and problems of communication with team members. Other studies reported other sources of stress, such as work conditions, low salaries and inadequate social facilities, lack of inservice training, the status of just starting work, the end of career, lack of opportunities for promotion, and decline in the appreciation of patients and superiors (Beemsterboer and Baum, 1984; Bram and Katz, 1989; Whippen and Canellos, 1991; Hershbach, 1992; June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 4 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 Ramirez et al, 1995; Wilkinson, 1995; Isikhan et al, 1998; Fielden and Peckar, 1999; Tattersall et al, 1999). There are many dimensions to understanding and dealing with workplace stress. Kahn and Cooper (1993) state that the word “stress”, as generally used, means essentially four fundamentally different things: an environmental condition, an appraisal of an environment situation, the response to that condition, and some form of relationship between one’s environmental demands and the ability to meet them. The workplace stress problem seems to do more damage in uniform jobs, due to the high degree of responsibility for others’ lives. Health care is one of the main areas in which workers’ main duty is to save the lives of others. Distress among healthcare professionals can have negative effects on the well-being of these professionals and also on the quality of care they provide to patients. The importance of keeping such workers energized, motivated and satisfied is obvious. Stress, burnout, depression and anxiety have been described in up to 25 per cent of practicing physicians (Agius et al, 1996). Examples of writers on workplace stress in the health sector are: Chan and Chan (2004), Maslach and Jackson (1982), Mowardi (1983), Arnetz (1991), Dallender et al (1999), Mechteld et al (2003), Ramirez et al (1996), and Cronin-Stubbs and Rooks (1985). The impact of these adverse outcomes can be considerable: worsening of doctor-patient communication, diminished productivity, lower quality of care and turnover in physician practices. Predictors of stress have been posited and assessed in other countries than the UAE but research has rarely addressed the predictors of stress in UAE health care employees. June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 5 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 Rapid changes in the UAE health care system may be a good starting-place for considering the stress on health care employees. The health care services in the UAE in all health tasks are mostly provided by expatriates, from every country. Working overseas may lead to additional sources of workplace stress and exhibit the multifarious nature of coping strategies. A model with ‘therapeutic implications’ for preventing stress would be beneficial. The literature on coping is itself wide. Coping with workplace stress is defined as ‘the cognitive and behavioural efforts a person makes to manage demands that tax or exceed his/her personal resources’ (Lazarus, 1995; Lazarus and Lunier, 1987). It is also a range of behaviours by which individuals can prevent, alleviate or respond to stressful circumstances (Pearlin and Scholer, 1978). To cope with stress efficiently, it has to be remembered that stress can vary within a person and from time to time (Crandall and Perrewé, 1995). Stark (1999) believes that it is helpful to establish realistic deadlines. Another way to minimize stress at work is to ensure that the employees clearly understand their duties. Vagueness about their responsibilities portends big problems. Coping strategies are the ways used by an individual, group or organization to minimize the effects of stress. To help us cope, we must first recognize that stress is variable for individuals and over time, as a natural part of life. As such, it cannot be avoided, but only minimized for a better response. It is not sufficient to detect the sources and levels of workplace stress; it is even more important to devise coping strategies to deal with it. According to Krohe (1999), coping with stress is the effective reduction of its negative effects. He states that senior managers often think it necessary to create a stressful work environment to induce the June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 6 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program best performance from their staff. ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 However, stress is rather an obstacle to good performance, innovation and creativity. A person’s reaction to stress very much depends on his/her attitude; therefore, the stress felt will differ between people according to their circumstances (Mclean, 1979). Similarly, the ILO (1984) found that the effectiveness of coping techniques very much depends on the individual. Potential predictors include gender, age, case mix, time pressure in patient visits, workload, practice type, specialty, work control, isolation and support in balancing work and home. Empirical studies suggest that: nurses who report high levels of workload use more problem-solving strategies; nurses who are subjected to stress due to patient demands and home/work conflicts use social support strategies; and avoidance is the most reliable symptom of stress and job dissatisfaction (Tyler and Cushway, 1992; Tyson and Pongruengphant, 1996( . The sources of workplace stress differ in nature; they can be psychological, workplacerelated, social, economic and personal. Workplace-related sources include role ambiguity (Mclean, 1979). Caplan and Jones (1975) report that role ambiguity results in anxiety and depression. According to Froiland (1993), role conflict occurs when an individual in a particular job is torn by conflicting job demands or doing things which he/she does not think are part of the job see also Sutherland and Cooper (1990). Additional sources are career development (Mclean, 1979); role overload – quantitative, (Marglies et al, 1974); role overload-qualitative (Kahn and Cooper, 1993; Schermerhorn et al, 2000); and responsibility for other people (McLean, 1980). Wardwell et al (1964) June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 7 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 report that responsibility for people is significantly more likely to lead to coronary heart disease (CHD) than responsibility for things. The level of workplace stress may be determined by other moderator variables, such as: country (Peterson et al, 1995; Brown and Cooper, 1996); gender, since men and women differ naturally in many ways, and therefore differences in their response to stressors are not unexpected (Russo, 1985; Stoney et al, 1985; Kerrler et al, 1985; Jick and Mitz, 1985). As stress affects age, so too does age affect stress (Matteson and Ivancivich, 1987; Leighton, 1963; Comslock and Helsing, 1976; Kaufman, 1982; Kahn and Cooper, 1993). In terms of experience, Auerbach and Gramling (1998) find that coping ability is very much a function of past experience, Kahn and Cooper (1993); regarding educational level, Syme (1975) finds that stress illness rates increased as individuals climbed above the social level commensurate with their educational level. The better educated and endowed a person is, the less stress he feels (Sutherland and Cooper, 1990). Marital status also affects stress levels, among the possibilities of single, married, divorced or widowed status. Being married is less stressful and more satisfying for men than for women (Jenkins, 1991; Crosby, 1984; Valdez and Gutek, 1987). Model of the Study The coping strategies proposed by many workers will be evaluated in this study. They are: i) flexibility (Pun, 1997; Schönpflug, 1983); ii) acceptance of others’ values; iii) self-knowledge (Pun, 1997; Powell and Enright, 1990); iv), wide interests; and v) activity and productiveness (Mclean, 1980). All these strategies were described in detail in the June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 8 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 third part of the questionnaire. Diagram 1 represents the model of the study and clarifies which relationships between different aspects of workplace stress were investigated. Diagram (1): The model of the study Demographic variables Gender, Age, Years of Experience (YEX), Educational Level (EDU), Marital Status (MIS), Ethnicity, Income, Type of Organization, Size, Set-up, and Nature of Work Sources of workplace stress -Role Ambiguity (RAB) -Role Conflict (RC) -Career Development (CRD) -Role Overload, Quantitative (ROQN) -Role Overload, Qualitative (ROQL) -Responsibility for Other People (RES) - Patients Coping strategies -Flexibility (FLX) -Acceptance of Others’ Values (ACCV) -Self-Knowledge (SKW) -Wide Interests (WIT) -Activity and Productiveness (ACPD) Hypothesis The study examined the following hypotheses: H1: there is a significant relationship between Sources of workplace stress and Demographic variables H2: there is a significant relationship between Coping strategies and Demographic variables Tool of the study The tool of the study is a four-part questionnaire in which we examined 3 areas considered important in relation to job stress; sources of workplace stress, coping June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 9 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 strategies, patients’ response, and certain demographic variables. The measurement for sources of workplace stress was adopted from Ivancivich and Michael (1980). It is composed of 30 items aimed to evaluate the influence of sources of workplace stress. The level of stress was measured by the respondents on a five-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, to 5 = strongly agree). Questions on the following different sources of stress were posed: role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload – quantitative, role overload – qualitative, career development and responsibility for others The measurement used for coping strategies is adopted from Mclean (1980) and includes 20 questions to evaluate the effects of personal traits on the ability to cope with stress. The participants are asked to use a five-point scale (Statements 1-9: 1= Very true to 5= Not at all true; Statements 10-18: 5= Very true, to 1=Not at all true). The personal traits (Coping Strategies) considered were: Self-Knowledge, Wide Interests, Flexibility, Acceptance of others’ values, and Activity and Productiveness. The reliability test for the different parts of the questionnaire is represented in Table (1). It reveals a Cronbach's Alpha level from 0.67 to 0.9 which is considered acceptable according to the research criteria. Table (1): Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha 0.912 0.674 0.754 N of Items 30 20 5 A sample of 175 respondents from different organizations in the public and private health care sectors in the UAE participated in the study. June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 10 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 The respondents’ profile is presented in Table (2); most of them worked in the public sector, which explains the majority of Arabs (52%) among the sample members. Even though 60% of the sample members were more than 30 years old, the category of 26-30 years is the largest single category, and we can understand why 52% of the sample had less than 4 years’ experience. The majority had a university degree as a result of the new standards in hiring health staff in the UAE. Married workers constituted 75% of the sample and more than 52% of the respondents were working in organizations where more than 300 were employed. Physicians and nurses were the largest groups, 37% and 31% respectively. People with an income below 10,000 Dh accounted for more than 54% of the whole sample. June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 11 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 Table (2): Respondents profile (n 175) Profile Category Public Private Type Semipublic < 20 years 21-25 26-30 years 31-35 years Age 36-40 years 41-50 > 50 years Certificate/diploma Professional Education Bachelor’s Master’s PhD <4 years 4-8 years Experience 8-12 years >12 years Single Married Marital status Divorced Separated Male Gender Female Arab Chinese Ethnicity Indians Others LESS THAN 5 5-10 Set-up 10-20 More than 20 < 100 100-200 Size 200-300 More than 300 administrative physician nurse Task technician laboratory other less than 5,000 5,000-10,000 Income 10,000-15,000 More than 15,000 June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK Frequency 88 80 7 1 6 43 33 40 27 25 28 46 54 30 17 91 54 12 18 37 130 5 3 90 85 95 1 39 40 69 24 24 58 39 31 14 91 11 65 55 17 4 23 47 48 31 49 Percentage 50.3 45.7 4.0 .6 3.4 24.6 18.9 22.9 15.4 14.3 16.0 26.3 30.9 17.1 9.7 52.0 30.9 6.9 10.3 21.1 74.3 2.9 1.7 51.4 48.6 54.3 .6 22.3 22.9 39.4 13.7 13.7 33.1 22.3 17.7 8.0 52.0 6.3 37.1 31.4 9.7 2.3 13.1 26.9 27.4 17.7 28.0 12 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 Analysis The analysis relies on means, standard deviation, correlation and regression. The main source of workplace stress for health care employees in the UAE, as reported in Table (3), is role ambiguity. Similarly, Vedat et al (2004) and Heim (1992) report that imbalance between jobs and responsibilities, conflict with colleagues and responsibilities of role are the main sources of workplace stress. The medical services are usually provided by teams and it is very important to know one’s exact role among the team members, with clear and specific responsibilities, otherwise lack of clarity about assignments and duties may lead to fatal errors. It is thought that stress in oncology clinics emanates from the imbalance between the coping ability of the individual and the demands of the work place, with the demands outweighing their ability to cope (Ullrich and Fitzgerald, 1990). Moreover, Fagin et al (1996) attribute burnout among psychiatric nurses to staff shortages, health service changes, poor morale and not being notified of changes before they occurred. Role overload – qualitative ranked as the second source, due to the high professional skills required to perform the medical tasks. This is close to the results of the study by Guppy and Gutteridge (1991) that 85% of stress in nurses was due to heavy workload. Although support and good relations with colleagues are important, responsibility for others ranked in sixth place, contradicting the study by Chan and Chan (2004). Both doctors and nurses highlighted that attending on the badly injured or those who have been killed is the most distressing experience for them. This is a not unexpected result of the nature of their work. Patients, however, were the lowest causes of stress; some June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 13 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 researchers did not even consider them among the major causes (Ullrich and Fitzgerald, 1990; Vedat et al, 2004; Heim, 1992). Table (3): Sources of workplace stress for health care employees in the UAE Mean Std. Deviation RAB 3.5646 0.819 ROQL 3.3703 0.7487 - Role Ambiguity (RAB) - Role Overload Quantitative (ROQN) - Role Overload Qualitative (ROQL) RC 3.2926 0.7565 ROQN 3.0377 0.8217 CR 2.96 0.8582 RES 2.7794 0.6553 Pat 2.1014 0.6206 - Career Development (CRD) - Role Conflict (RC) - Responsibility for Other People (RES) - Pat (Patients) In terms of coping strategies, as revealed in Table 4, the main coping strategy for of workplace stress by health care employees in the UAE is to be active and productive. When dealing with people’s lives, it is very important to be careful, but at the same time the patients need to be served as much as possible. To keep a balance, employees must be flexible and socially intelligent; acceptance of others’ values ranked third in the list of important qualities and this helps to minimize the level of workplace stress. Table (4): Coping strategies for workplace stress by health care employees Mean Std. Deviation ACT 2.8829 0.6122 FLEX 2.6529 0.6716 ACV 2.6129 0.5398 WIT 2.5714 0.6064 SKW 2.38 0.4602 - Flexibility (FLX) - Self-Knowledge (SKW) - Wide Interests (WIT) - Activity and Productiveness (ACPD) - Acceptance of Others’ Values (ACCV) Table (5) shows significant relationships between role ambiguity and age, while role conflict related significantly to age and marital status. Role overload – quantitative, Role overload – qualitative and career development all related significantly with age. Responsibility for others is the only source of stress which is related to years of experience. The study by A.R. and Gh.R. (2006) stated that significant positive correlation was noted between age and years of experience for the psychiatric nurses. The patients as source of workplace stress is the only factor related to number of children, June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 14 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 nature of the job (according to C Renzi, et al, 2005, burnout was similar for dermatologists and other specialists), and income. The independent variable nature of the job related significantly with the patients, this result complies with some previous studies such as the studies by Cronin-Stubbs and Rooks (1985) and Yousefy and Ghassemi (2006). The latter study states that psychiatric nurses experienced a greater degree of emotional exhaustion than do medical nurses. Table (5): Correlation table for demographic variables and source of workplace stress (n 175) Gender RAB RC ROQN ROQL CR RES Sig. .002 .005 .047 .005 .001 .899 P. Corr -.039 -.022 -.017 -.065 -.120 .017 -.085 Sig. .608 .770 .825 .389 .113 .827 .261 .069 -.018 .064 .032 -.071 .041 .077 .366 .816 .397 .678 .353 .587 .308 P. Corr .198(**) .209(**) .205(**) .239(**) .301(**) .052 -.165(*) Sig. .009 .006 .007 .001 .000 .495 .030 P. Corr .113 .063 .085 .064 .107 .066 -.141 Sig. .136 .406 .266 .404 .158 .383 .063 P. Corr .033 .178(*) .143 .128 .136 .150(*) .007 Sig. .663 .018 .058 .091 .072 .048 .928 P. Corr .085 .073 .052 .107 .125 .173(*) -.041 Sig. .266 .339 .496 .160 .098 .022 .592 P. Corr -.080 .060 -.027 -.094 -.130 -.056 .259(**) Sig. .292 .431 .723 .214 .086 .461 .001 P. Corr -.023 -.008 -.050 -.057 -.030 -.228(**) .030 Sig. .767 .917 .509 .450 .696 .002 .697 P. Corr -.061 -.106 -.044 -.064 .067 -.079 -.289(**) Sig. .423 .164 .565 .397 .377 .297 .000 Ethnicity P. Corr Sig. Age EDU MIS Type Job YEX Income EDU: Educational level Job: Nature of the job Pat MIS: Marital status Type: Type of organization YEX: Years of experience Pear. Corr: Pearson correlation Table (6) reveals several significant similar (to correlation) relationships for the sources of workplace stress. For example, all the sources except responsibility for others, related June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 15 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 significantly to the age variable. According to Schaufeli et al (1998), burnout seems to be less prevalent among older people and among married people, and it is the same for years of experience and for the responsibility for others. Characteristics which individual staff members reported as related to burnout include length of time at their current job and in their career (Maslach and Florian 1988). According to Gerits L et al (2005), female nurses were characterized by fewer symptoms of burnout, relatively high emotional intelligence profiles and lower social skills than male nurses. Table (6): Regression analysis for demographic variables and source (Constant) Pat Pear. Sig. Corr 8.059 .000 RAM Pear. Sig. Corr 6.165 .000 ROQL Pear. Sig. Corr 5.461 .000 RC Pear. Sig. Corr 4.438 .000 ROQN Pear. Sig. Corr 6.542 .000 CR Pear. Sig. Corr 4.262 .000 RES Pear. Sig. Corr 6.183 .000 Gender -2.91 0.004 .034 .973 .277 .782 .525 .600 -.156 .876 -.337 .736 .797 .426 Ethnicity 0.076 0.94 .527 .599 -.958 .340 .510 .611 -.268 .789 -1.29 .198 -.564 .573 Age -1.28 0.202 2.397 .018 2.643 .009 2.429 .016 2.881 .004 3.267 .001 .815 .416 EDU -0.37 0.71 1.132 .259 .598 .551 .788 .432 .110 .913 -.126 .900 .691 .491 MIS 1.3 0.196 -.689 .492 1.356 .177 .987 .325 .450 .653 .123 .902 1.960 .052 Type -1.46 0.147 .293 .770 .231 .817 -.381 .704 .443 .658 1.581 .116 .630 .530 Job 1.445 0.15 -.793 .429 1.165 .246 .196 .845 -.779 .437 -.497 .620 -.365 .715 YEX 0.613 0.541 -.403 .688 -1.17 .244 -1.39 .166 -1.23 .222 -.796 .427 -2.98 .003 Income -3.18 0.002 -1.60 .112 -1.81 .072 -1.10 .274 -1.80 .074 -.352 .725 -1.28 .201 R Square 0.178 .100 0.075 0.097 .125 0.111 Table (7) represents the correlation among the coping strategies and demographic variables. Self-knowledge related significantly to the nature of the job and years of experience. Wide interests was affected significantly by age, marital status and the nature of the job. Flexibility, and active and productive similarly related significantly to the type of organization but differed in relating significantly to ethnicity and the nature of the job. June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 16 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 Table (7): Correlation table for demographic variables and the coping strategies for workplace stress (n 175) Gender SKW WIT FLEX ACV ACT P. Corr -.051 -.105 -.107 -.087 -.071 Sig. .502 .165 .160 .253 .350 P. Corr .033 -.042 .007 .007 .020 .668 .582 .925 .932 .789 P. Corr .060 .281(**) .109 .136 .175(*) Sig. .434 .000 .151 .073 .021 P. Corr .080 .139 .108 -.024 -.017 Sig. .290 .067 .155 .751 .820 P. Corr -.105 .191(*) .006 .164(*) -.017 Sig. .167 .011 .935 .030 .822 P. Corr -.070 .067 .069 .044 -.106 Sig. .358 .382 .365 .561 .163 -.194(*) -.070 -.240(**) .000 .010 .358 .001 P. Corr -.163(*) -.055 -.237(**) -.043 -.111 Sig. .032 .467 .002 .575 .142 P. Corr .108 .085 .112 .021 .116 Sig. .154 .265 .140 .787 .127 Ethnicity Sig. Age EDU MIS Type P. Corr -.173(*) -.320(**) Job YEX Income Sig. .022 Regression analysis in Table (8) supported the correlation results to some extent. It revealed significant relationships among the different dependent and independent variables. Self-knowledge correlated with years of experience; wide interests with age, the nature of the job and income; flexibility with years of experience; activity and productiveness with the type of the organization, nature of the job and years of experience. Based on the theory of professionalization of Forsyth and Danisiewicz (1985), it might be expected that staff who are more active in their profession would perceive themselves to be more autonomous from their organization but not from their clients. Moreover, stronger attachments to clients who are at times very difficult may June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 17 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 contribute to burnout. Additionally, there is considerable evidence that younger employees experience higher levels of burnout (Cordes and Dougherty 1993), possibly because they become disillusioned by the “real world” after having held an idealistic view which influenced their career choice and reinforced in their training programs. Vedat et al (2004, 1) reveals that the level of stress indicates signs of both physical and psychological stress. They also claim that health care professionals use similar strategies in order to cope with stress. The most common strategy used by physicians and nurses was a self-confident approach, while the strategy least used was a submissive approach. Results, Recommendations and Managerial Implications The main source of workplace stress among health care employees in the UAE, as shown in Table (3) is role ambiguity, while the main coping strategy is to be active and productive. The correlation and regression analysis shows significant relationships between role ambiguity and age and between role conflict and age and marital status. Role overload – quantitative, role overload – qualitative and career development related significantly to age. Responsibility for others is the only source of stress that is related to years of experience. The patients as a source of workplace stress constitute the only factor related to the nature of the job and to income. The correlation and regression analysis for coping strategies revealed that self-knowledge related significantly with the nature of the job and years of experience. Wide interests was affected significantly by age, marital status, and the nature of the job, while flexibility and being active and productive similarly related significantly to the type of organization but differed between in relating significantly to ethnicity and to the nature of the job. The cross tabulation June 24-26, 2009 St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University, Oxford, UK 18 2009 Oxford Business & Economics Conference Program ISBN : 978-0-9742114-1-1 analysis showed other significant results between the sources of workplace stress and ethnicity and gender. The health care managers in the UAE health organizations can minimize costs by taking into consideration the negative effects of workplace stress level in the workplace, such as turnover, which is costly in the UAE, absenteeism and dissatisfaction. 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