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R Visintini

Publications and source records attributed to R Visintini.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Psychological stress in nurses' relationships with HIV-infected patients: the risk of burnout syndrome.

To assess the role played by psychological stress and sociodemographic factors as predictors of burnout in nurses, we administered the AIDS Impact Scale (AIS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to nurses in the AIDS field. The sample was composed of 410 nurses from 19 departments for the treatment of infectious diseases. In these subjects we observed a low level of burnout in the MBI, but a small proportion had a high level of burnout We did not find significant associations between sociodemographic variables and the MBI scales. We found significant correlations between the MBI and three AIS scales that specifically assessed the emotional involvement of nurses in their relationships with patients. The results suggest that an empathic involved relationship seems to be protective towards burnout rather than a frustrating involved relationship. Moreover nurses tolerate stress better if they receive supportive social rewards. We found that the impact of working with HIV-infected patients causes psychological stress (measured with the AIS), but it is a weak predictor of burnout (measured with the MBI). The results indicated the incompatibility between the relational/defensive model of the AIS and the environmental/work performance model of the MBI.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

An assessment of self-esteem in HIV-positive patients.

The objective of this research is to assess how self-esteem levels differ in HIV-infected subjects in three different risk behaviours: drug addicts, homosexuals, heterosexuals. The sample (n = 104) consisted of: drug addicts (n = 46); homosexual (n = 26); heterosexuals (n = 32). The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) were used. A covariance analysis was used to assess the effect of the different personality traits on the 'self-esteem variable' and to eliminate the variance caused by the personality variables. Bonferroni's T-test was used to assess which group contributed to confute the hypothesis of equivalence between the RSES means of the groups. A significant association between the HIV-infection risk behaviour and the level of self-esteem was shown; this association was assessed by eliminating the effect of personality traits. The risk behaviour as well as the personality traits were both indicative of the level of self-esteem. The assessment of each group revealed that the drug addicts had a relatively lower self-esteem level (mean = 35.251) than the homosexuals (mean = 38.698) and the heterosexuals (mean = 38.227). In conclusion the RSES enables clinicians to identify subjects with low levels of self-esteem who need to be psychologically assessed within a vast population of HIV-infected patients.

Adult↗