If you are well … you work well!

Abstract

Background: The National Health Plan 2006-2008 recognizes the growth of diseases linked to psychosocial factors associated with stress (burnout, bullying, etc.), they are identified as occupational diseases, psychic and psychosomatic diseases that originate from an inadequate work organization . Employees are commonly faced with greater demands and less job security, both of which are likely to be stressful, thus psychological disorders especially depression may increasingly be caused by work-related stressors. So this kind of stressors may be the cause of "professional misconduct", "difficulties in the relationship with the patient based on less empathy and sensitivity", but most seriously they interfere with the quality of life of the operator. Material and methods: The SSD of Psychology of the National Cancer Institute "Fondazione G. Pascale" of Naples has organized a prevention and support intervention, at short, medium and long term, that is addressed to all the healthcare workers of the Institute (doctors, psychologists, nurses etc), aiming at their professional training and at a better and more qualified human resources management. The intervention is characterized by three steps: * First step: training courses adressed to all the health workers ofthe Institute in order to acquire a better knowledge and awareness of stress diseases * Second step: support programmes in order to prevent and reduce work diseases * Third step: follow-up intervention in order to monitor the results over time and to evaluate the organization welfare. Results: Thanks to this complex intervention we expect to maintain the welfare of the hospital, prevent the main work related stress disorders and reduce conflicts in the working groups. Conclusions: Working in an oncology department requires enough energy to confront all problems and self-devotion (Lederberg, 1998). Offering care to cancer patients may give rise to stress, dissatisfaction, alienation from work and exhaustion in health professionals. For these reasons it is essential for us to create guidelines in order to guarantee a continuous psychological support for all the healthcare workers.