Taubman-Ben-Ari Orit, Weintroub Adi
School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 52900 Isreal.
Death Stud. 2008;32(7):621-45. doi: 10.1080/07481180802215627.
Studies examining medical teams indicate that exposure to the terminally ill often has detrimental effects on their physical and emotional well-being. However, recent theoretical developments suggest that this exposure might also have positive implications. The current study sought to examine 2 positive outcomes, meaning in life and personal growth, among physicians and nurses working with hospitalized children and exposed to different levels of patient mortality. In addition, the contribution of level of secondary traumatization and the personal resources of professional self-esteem and optimism were examined. The sample consisted of 58 physicians and 66 nurses working in pediatric hemato-oncology, pediatric intensive care units, and pediatric internal medicine wards in Israel. The findings indicate that a higher level of exposure to patient death, higher optimism, and professional self-esteem, and lower secondary traumatization predicted the sense of meaning in life, whereas occupation, as well as higher professional self-esteem and higher level of secondary traumatization, especially among lower professional self-esteem individuals, predicted a higher experience of personal growth. In addition, nurses reported higher levels of professional self-esteem, secondary traumatization, and personal growth than physicians. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
对医疗团队的研究表明，接触绝症患者往往会对他们的身心健康产生不利影响。然而，最近的理论发展表明，这种接触也可能有积极的影响。当前的研究旨在调查在照顾住院儿童且接触不同程度患者死亡率的医生和护士中，生命意义和个人成长这两个积极结果。此外，还研究了继发性创伤程度以及职业自尊和乐观主义等个人资源的作用。样本包括以色列儿科血液肿瘤学、儿科重症监护病房和儿科内科病房的58名医生和66名护士。研究结果表明，更高程度的患者死亡接触、更高的乐观主义和职业自尊以及更低的继发性创伤预示着生命意义感，而职业以及更高的职业自尊和更高程度的继发性创伤，尤其是在职业自尊较低的个体中，预示着更高的个人成长体验。此外，护士报告的职业自尊、继发性创伤和个人成长水平高于医生。文中讨论了研究结果的理论和实际意义。
