Page 202 - Petelin, Ana, Nejc Šarabon, Boštjan Žvanut, eds. 2017. Zdravje delovno aktivne populacije ▪︎ Health of the Working-Age Population. Proceedings. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
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avje delovno aktivne populacije | health of the working-age population 200 nate, severe psychological stress, combined with feelings of guilt and troubled
conscience can occur.
Conscience and troubled conscience
Conscience is an integral part of professional decision-making. At the begin-
ning of life, conscience in general is formed through parental values. Religious
values and various extrinsic factors are also important. Conscience in rela-
tion to established social norms can influence “judgement” which can cause
an internal conflict (Thompson et al., 2006; Weinstock, 2014). People describe
their conscience as “the voice that tells them what to do.” It guides towards
“good” and discourages “evil”. Some religious theories interpret the voice of
conscience as the voice of God. The Old Testament argues that a person has two
choices. Conscience is God’s emissary or teacher, but man himself must decide
between his two tendencies towards good or evil (Fromm, 1987; Wood, 2009).
Trstenjak (1971) describes conscience as a compass that directs nurses to-
wards professional goals by protecting against reckless decisions. There are two
extremes: dulled conscience, navigating in the wrong direction and extra-sen-
sitive conscience, acting as a brake. Properly formed conscience will not cause
discomfort. Nurses with properly formed conscience constantly receive inter-
nal support for their professional conduct. Conscience helps to administer eth-
ical standards to concrete situations. It accompanies every professional deci-
sion. A troubled conscience is sadness in conjunction with the idea of a past
unexpected event and is a sign of helplessness. Nurses mention a troubled con-
science when they are not able to provide sufficient high-quality care and when
nurses do something, but at the same time know that this should not be do-
ne. Troubled conscience is followed by feelings of guilt (De Spinoza, 1988; Kel-
ly, 1998; Strandberg and Jansson, 2003; Genuis and Lipp, 2013).
Stress and occupational burnout
Stress is defined as a physiological, psychological and behavioural response to
stressors. A stressor can be an event, a person or an object (Dernovšek et al.,
2006) which triggers a physiological response. Stress has many negative conno-
tations, although positive stress is also possible. Stress becomes negative when
individuals cannot control the situation or find themselves in distress that is
impossible to deal with. Long-term negative stress results in deterioration of
health, emotions and behaviour, signalling work overload. (Yehuda 2002; Haf-
ner and Ihan, 2014).
In the past, burnout was initially only associated with caring professions
(Selič, 2010). Occupational burnout is the result of prolonged workplace stress.
The first questionnaire for burnout assessment was developed in 1981, measur-
ing three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal
fulfilment (Maslach and Jackson, 1981; Hafner and Ihan, 2014). Burnout occurs
when discrepancies between the nature of work and the nature of man appear.
conscience can occur.
Conscience and troubled conscience
Conscience is an integral part of professional decision-making. At the begin-
ning of life, conscience in general is formed through parental values. Religious
values and various extrinsic factors are also important. Conscience in rela-
tion to established social norms can influence “judgement” which can cause
an internal conflict (Thompson et al., 2006; Weinstock, 2014). People describe
their conscience as “the voice that tells them what to do.” It guides towards
“good” and discourages “evil”. Some religious theories interpret the voice of
conscience as the voice of God. The Old Testament argues that a person has two
choices. Conscience is God’s emissary or teacher, but man himself must decide
between his two tendencies towards good or evil (Fromm, 1987; Wood, 2009).
Trstenjak (1971) describes conscience as a compass that directs nurses to-
wards professional goals by protecting against reckless decisions. There are two
extremes: dulled conscience, navigating in the wrong direction and extra-sen-
sitive conscience, acting as a brake. Properly formed conscience will not cause
discomfort. Nurses with properly formed conscience constantly receive inter-
nal support for their professional conduct. Conscience helps to administer eth-
ical standards to concrete situations. It accompanies every professional deci-
sion. A troubled conscience is sadness in conjunction with the idea of a past
unexpected event and is a sign of helplessness. Nurses mention a troubled con-
science when they are not able to provide sufficient high-quality care and when
nurses do something, but at the same time know that this should not be do-
ne. Troubled conscience is followed by feelings of guilt (De Spinoza, 1988; Kel-
ly, 1998; Strandberg and Jansson, 2003; Genuis and Lipp, 2013).
Stress and occupational burnout
Stress is defined as a physiological, psychological and behavioural response to
stressors. A stressor can be an event, a person or an object (Dernovšek et al.,
2006) which triggers a physiological response. Stress has many negative conno-
tations, although positive stress is also possible. Stress becomes negative when
individuals cannot control the situation or find themselves in distress that is
impossible to deal with. Long-term negative stress results in deterioration of
health, emotions and behaviour, signalling work overload. (Yehuda 2002; Haf-
ner and Ihan, 2014).
In the past, burnout was initially only associated with caring professions
(Selič, 2010). Occupational burnout is the result of prolonged workplace stress.
The first questionnaire for burnout assessment was developed in 1981, measur-
ing three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal
fulfilment (Maslach and Jackson, 1981; Hafner and Ihan, 2014). Burnout occurs
when discrepancies between the nature of work and the nature of man appear.
