Background Nursing is a notoriously high-stress occupation emotionally taxing and physically draining, with a high incidence of burnout. In addition to the damaging effects of stress on nurses’ health and well being, stress is also a major contributor to attrition and widespread shortages in the nursing profession. Although there exist promising in-person interventions for addressing the problem of stress among nurses, the experience of our group across multiple projects in hospitals has indicated that the schedules and workloads of nurses can pose problems for implementing in-person interventions, and that web-based interventions might be ideally suited to addressing the high levels of stress among nurses. Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the web-based BREATHE: Stress Management for Nurses program. Methods The randomized controlled trial was conducted with 104 nurses in five hospitals in Virginia and one hospital in New York. The primary outcome measure was perceived nursing-related stress. Secondary measures included symptoms of distress, coping, work limitations, job satisfaction, use of substances to relieve stress, alcohol consumption, and understanding depression and anxiety. Results Program group participants experienced significantly greater reductions than the control group on the full Nursing Stress Scale, and six of the seven subscales. No other significant results were found. Moderator analysis found that nurses with greater experience benefitted more. Conclusion Using a web-based program holds tremendous promise for providing nurses with the tools they need to address nursing related stress.

The effectiveness of smoking cessation may be aided by modification of structural features of the work environment, such as job decision latitude. This study is limited by the small number of subjects who were engaged in high risk behaviors.

As a test of the "job strain" (job demands-control) model, 297 healthy men aged 30-60 were recruited at eight New York City worksites. The association among job demands and control, social support, and psychological outcomes was tested using both ANCOVA and moderated multiple regression, controlling for demographic variables. The job strain model was supported by various psychological outcome measures, with workers in "active" jobs reporting the highest level of Type A behavior, job involvement, and positive attributional style, workers in "low-strain" jobs reporting the lowest job dissatisfaction and trait anxiety, workers in "passive" jobs reporting the most external locus of control and trait anxiety, and workers in "high-strain" jobs reporting the highest job dissatisfaction. Low social support was associated with greater symptomatology, and a significant three-way interaction (demands x control x support) for job dissatisfaction was observed. While selection of subjects into jobs may partially explain these findings, the results support the hypothesis that working conditions influence psychological attributes and distress.

Findings suggest that referring parents to a multimedia web-based program can improve parents' knowledge of children's' mental health and their confidence in addressing mental health issues. Web-based programs can be offered to individuals in multiple settings, including the workplace, thereby reaching large numbers of parents.