Work-related stress among nurses: a challenge for health care institutions

Abstract

The issue of occupational stress amongst health care professionals is currently a major concern in health policy. The main goal of the present study has been to investigate the relationship between levels of stress among nurses, and some of the psychosocial and organisational characteristics of their job. The participants of the cross-sectional survey were female nurses (n = 218) chosen at random from public hospitals in Csongrad Country, Hungary. A self-administered questionnaire was the method used for data collection: this questionnaire contained various items on psychosomatic symptoms, self-perceived health, sociodemographic data, job satisfaction, health risk behaviours, drug consumption, emotional load and social support from peers. The findings suggest that the frequency of common psychosomatic symptoms (e.g. sleeping problems, tension headache, chronic fatigue or palpitations), regular alcohol drinking, heavy smoking, and frequent use of tranquilisers and sleeping pills can be read as an indicator of nurses' work-related stress level. Nurses with only primary education had the highest such levels, while those with baccalaureate-level education had the lowest. Furthermore, nurses aged 51-60 years and those on rotating night shift proved to be vulnerable to stress the most frequently. However, no significant differences were found between nurses working in-theatre and those non-theatre; nor was job satisfaction found to have a significant impact on the levels of stress experienced. The results suggest that supportive relationships with peers may reduce the occurrence of high stress levels among nurses, leading the author to conclude that social support and the psychosocial work climate should be improved in health care institutions.