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Plain Language Project

Plain Language Project

Nicole Djogovic
N01262510
Julian Aiken
BHSW 4503
February 25, 2021
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Plain Language Project
Target Audience

As health care managers, it is important for you to know the needs of your employees. The
purpose of this report is to show how health care workers, specifically pharmacists are over
worked, stressed and more likely to quit their job. Health care professionals play an important
role in keeping patients safe and need to successfully complete their job to avoid making harmful
mistakes. As health care managers, you must offer mental health support for your employees to
reduce stress and exhaustion, increase their willingness to work, and reduce turnover rates.

Why was the study done?

Research finds that health care workers are more likely to leave their job due to high stress,
exhaustion, and feeling unsupported by their workplace. This study, funded by Cathay General
Hospital, looks at the relationship between pharmacists’ work environment, job stress,
exhaustion, and their willingness to stay at their job. The studies purpose is to prove that you
must create a positive work environment and offer support for your employees to reduce job
stress, increase willingness to work, and reduce employees quitting.

How was the study done?

The study looks at 125 pharmacists, across all age groups and years of experience, from three
different hospitals in Taiwan. The study participants were to complete a survey that asks
questions regarding job stress, work exhaustion, and their willingness to stay at their job. The
survey asks questions about five areas of pharmacist employment; personal characteristics, work
environment, job stress, work exhaustion and willingness to keep job.

What did the researchers find?

The survey participants are licensed pharmacists who vary in experience and personal
characteristics. The study looks at multiple factors that interact with each other and find that
pharmacists who have 4-8 years of experience report feeling more stressed and overworked than
those who have less than one year experience. Management pharmacists express higher levels of
work exhaustion than general pharmacists. Pharmacists aged 50 years report having more
intention to keep their job than those who are aged 21-40 years. Pharmacists with 8 years or
more of experience also have a higher intention to stay.

The study also looks at the relationship between work environment, job stress, work exhaustion
and how they affect an employee’s willingness to keep their job. The study finds that the more
stress a pharmacist’s experience, the more exhausted they feel. High stress and work exhaustion
negatively affects pharmacist’s willingness to keep their job. Pharmacists who are satisfied with
their work environment, are more likely to keep their job. However, pharmacists with high
workloads, role conflicts and loss of job control leads to high stress are more likely to quit.

What are the implications of the study?

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Plain Language Project

Pharmacists play a big role in the health and safety of medical patients, so it is important that
they are able to do their job successfully. There is a high turnover rate of pharmacists who
experience high rates of stress and work exhaustion. The study suggests that there is a strong
relationship between stress, work exhaustion and employees quitting. In order to improve the
work environment, reduce employee stress and keep employees, managers must offer support to
employees.

What are some strengths & weaknesses of the study?

A strength of this study is that it is the first to look at the relationship between work satisfaction,
job stress, work exhaustion, and employees quitting. Although the study looks specifically at
pharmacists, the findings of the study can be used for other areas of the medical field to improve
their work environment. A weakness of this study is that it is a short-term study and job stress,
and work exhaustion are the result of a long-term process. The study cannot determine the long-
term effects that job stress has on work exhaustion.

Single Most Important Thing (SMIT)?

The research shows that high job stress leads to work exhaustion and workers who feel
overwhelmed are more likely to leave their job.

Bottom Line Actionable Message (BLAM)?

As medical institution managers you must create a positive environment and offer
communication and support for health care workers to increase job satisfaction, lower stress and
feeling over worked. It is important to create a friendly and healthy workplace environment to
increase work performance and employee’s willingness to stay.

Word choice
Criteria: Example(s) from report:
1) Uses familiar, everyday words - “important”
- “know”
- “over worked”
- “stress”
- “look”
- “leave”
- “quit”
- “help”
- “exhaustion”
- “determine”
- “create”
- “relationship”
- “positive”
- “feel”
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Plain Language Project
“need”
“successfully”
“suggests”
2) Uses ‘you’ and other pronouns to speak to - “important for you to know the needs of
the reader your employees”
- “important for you to offer mental health
support for your employees”
- “As medical institution managers you must
create a positive environment”
3) Uses active voice - “pharmacists are over worked, stressed and
more likely to quit their job.”
- “The study looks at 125 pharmacists”
- “This study, funded by Cathay General
Hospital, looks at the relationship”
- The survey participants are licensed
pharmacists who vary in experience and
personal characteristics.
- “There is a high turnover rate of pharmacists
who experience high rates of stress and work
exhaustion.”
“Pharmacists play a big role in the health and
safety of medical patients”
- “The study participants were to complete a
survey that asks questions regarding job
stress, work exhaustion, and their willingness
to stay at their job.
4) Uses base verbs - “Pharmacists who have 4-8 years of
experience report feeling more stressed and
overworked”

- “Management Pharmacists express higher

levels of work exhaustion than general
pharmacists.

- “The studies purpose is to prove that you

must create a positive work environment”

- “it is important to create a friendly and

healthy workplace environment to increase
work performance and employee’s
willingness to stay.”
5) Omits excess words - “The research shows that high job stress
leads to work exhaustion and workers who
feel overwhelmed are more likely to leave
their job”
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Plain Language Project
6) Uses the simplest tense possible – simple
present tense is best
7) Uses ‘must’ to express requirements
8) Places words carefully
Knowledge Translation Principles
Criteria:
1) Written for the reader
2) Organized to serve the reader's needs
- “The purpose of this report is to show “
- “The research shows that high job stress
leads to work exhaustion and workers who
feel overwhelmed are more likely to leave
their job.”
- “A strength of this study is that it is the first
to look at the relationship between work
satisfaction, job stress, work exhaustion, and
employees quitting.”
- “As medical institution managers you must
create a positive environment”
“As health care managers, you must offer
mental health support for your employees to
reduce stress and exhaustion, increase their
willingness to work, and reduce turnover
rates.
- “pharmacists who have 4-8 years of
experience report feeling more stressed and
overworked than those who have less than
one year experience”
- “As medical institution managers you must
create a positive environment and offer
communication and support for health care
workers to increase job satisfaction, lower
stress and feeling over worked”
Example(s) from report:
- “As health care managers, it is important for
you to know the needs of your employees.”
“As health care managers, it is important for
you to offer mental health support for your
employees to reduce stress and exhaustion,
increase their willingness to work, and reduce
turnover rates.”
- “Research finds that health care workers are
more likely to leave their job due to high
stress, exhaustion, and feeling unsupported by
their workplace.”
- “The studies purpose is to prove that you
must create a positive work environment and
offer support for your employees to reduce
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Plain Language Project
3) Content is accurate and evidence-based
4) The material is actionable, if appropriate
job stress, increase willingness to work, and
reduce employees quitting.”
- “The research shows that high job stress
leads to work exhaustion and workers who
feel overwhelmed are more likely to leave
their job.”
- “As medical institution managers you must
create a positive environment and offer
communication and support for health care
workers to increase job satisfaction, lower
stress and feeling over worked. This can
create a friendly and healthy workplace
environment where work performance is
increased, and employees want to stay.”
- “The report is organized into sections that
allow the reader to navigate specific areas and
include sections that include the most
important thing and the bottom-line
actionable message for a simplified overview
of the information”
“pharmacists who have 4-8 years of
experience report feeling more stressed and
overworked than those who have less than
one year experience”
“Management Pharmacists expressed higher
levels of work exhaustion than general
pharmacists. Pharmacists aged 50 years report
having more intention to keep their job than
those who are aged 21-40 years.”
“pharmacists with high workloads, role
conflicts and loss of job control leads to high
stress are more likely to quit.
“offer mental health support for your
employees to reduce stress and exhaustion,
increase their willingness to work, and reduce
turnover rates.”
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Plain Language Project

Reference

Yu‐Li Lan, Wan‐Tsui Huang, Chi‐Lan Kao, & Hui‐Jung Wang. (2020). The relationship
between organizational climate, job stress, workplace burnout, and retention of
pharmacists. Journal of Occupational Health, 62(1)
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.humber.ca/10.1002/1348-9585.12079