O estresse na atividade gerencial do enfermeiro

Abstract

According to several studies, nursing, especially in hospital settings, is one of the most stressful professions. The objective of this study was to identify the sources of stress related to the administrative tasks of nurses working in a hospital, as well as the main health changes that stress caused these professionals. The quantitative survey was carried out in 1996 with a sample of 207 nurses at a university hospital in the city of Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A questionnaire was used to collect data on stress sources and symptoms. The questionnaire also gathered demographic data, as well as information on the nurses' feelings about their working conditions. The average age of the study participants was 35.8 years, and the average time working at the hospital was 8.5 years. Among participants, 48% were considered to be stressed. Work overload was the stress source that best predicted relative risk of stress (6.1). In terms of stress symptoms, the most commonly reported ones were cardiovascular changes. However, gastrointestinal changes were related to a higher risk of stress (5.3). Managing other staff was the stress source that had the greatest number of significant correlations with stress symptoms. On the other hand, immunologic changes were the symptoms that had the highest correlation with stress sources. Our results suggest that stress related to administrative tasks in nursing may trigger changes in nurses' health.

Stress in nurses working in intensive care units

“…Marital status and number of children were not found to be relevant as a stress source, neither in literature nor in this study (1,(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) .…”

“…Some of them report the fact of women having to balance home and work duties as a source of stress, causing a double shift, which may wear away their marital and social life, causing depression, fatigue, and work dissatisfaction (1,(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) .…”

“…and identification with the workplace probably causing a lower negative stress impact (3)(4)(5)(6)18) .…”

“…The ever-growing changes that happened in the globalization process have defined the way of living and other patterns of health-sickness, also causing a strong influence in the working structure (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) .…”

“…Several investigations about the worker's health define stress as the result of emotional weariness, lack of control in highly-demanding working situations, feelings of exertion, fatigue and changes in health (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9) .…”