Assessment of psychological stress in emergency nurses: a descriptive study

Abstract

Introduction: Emergency unit nurses face many stress factors at the same time. The mood of nurses who frequently face unforeseen difficulties and crisis situations such as sudden death, serious illness, trauma, overcrowding, exposure to violence is also highly affected by these negative developments. This research was conducted descriptively to examine the stress and related psychological problems experienced by nurses working in emergency units. Material and methods: A data collection form with 50 questions was prepared by the researchers to examine the psychological effects of work stress on nurses. The authors chose 120 nurses and 120 administrative worker working in Hospital Emergency Department of Shatrah, Dhi-Qar City in Iraq to answer questions about the psychological effects of emergency service work, and to complete the Rapid Stress Assessment scale. Then, the individual experienced stress was evaluated with the Perceived Stress Status (PSS) scale, which was translated and validated in Arabic language. Results: The nurses had higher scores of stress measured by the RSA scale, anxiety, depression, and somatization than administrative workers (p < 0.05). The total score of PSS in nurses (26.57 ±3.82) was slightly higher compared with that among the administrative employees (21.42 ±3.64); this difference was statistically significant between the groups (p = 0.036). Conclusions: Improving work conditions could decrease the stress felt by emergency nurses. It is necessary to improve the conditions and to reduce the duration of nurses' work, to increase the number of nurses in emergency departments, to institutionalize the nursing profession, to pay attention to specialized education, and to improve economic conditions.