Occupational stress and its related demographic factors among Iranian CCU nurses: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives Occupational stress can have an adverse effect on mental and physical health and performance of nurses. The aim of this study was to investigate the occupational stress of Iranian critical care unit (CCU) nurses and its related demographic factors. Results In this cross-sectional study, 155 CCU nurses were randomly selected. The Osipow Occupational Stress Questionnaire was used as data collection tool. The mean of nurses’ occupational stress was 210.13 ± 40.87 out of 300, which was at the “moderate-to-high” level. The highest mean of occupational stress was related to the subscale of “Role Overload” (36.30 ± 6.98) and the lowest mean was related to the subscale of “Physical Environment” (33.58 ± 9.76). There was no statistically significant difference between the mean occupational stress and variables of sex, age, academic degree and working experience.

Occupational Stress in Intensive Care Units Nurses: A Cross-sectional Study

“…Other reasons for the high levels of occupational stress include lack of nursing staff, low salaries and benefits, night shifts, limited and closed space of the ICU, alarm sound of devices, as well as lack of the required medicine and equipment [7]. Among occupational stress components, the highest mean score was related to role overload, which corroborates with the findings of another study in Iran [8]. This result can be justified by the fact that nurses working in ICUs have to deal with critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation, instability of the patients' consciousness, injection of sensitive drugs such as dopamine, constant checking of vital signs, and prevention of bed sores.…”

“…Three hospitals are affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences and each hospital has five ICUs with a total number of 192 staff. Cochran's sample size formula was applied and the sample size was calculated as 128 individuals [8]. The participants were selected using the stratified random sampling method.…”

“…In other words, scores within the ranges of 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, and 40-50 indicate low, low-moderate, moderate-high, and high levels of occupational stress, respectively. According to [8], the total score of the occupational stress questionnaire is also divided into four levels of low (60-119), low-moderate (120-179), moderatehigh (180-239), and high (240-300). The validity of this questionnaire was confirmed by Sharifian et al and its reliability was determined as satisfactory using the test-retest.…”

“…Furthermore, other factors included feeling inability about end-stage patients, seeing a patient's suffering, hearing or talking to patients about their developing death, having conflicts with physicians, fearing of making a mistake in treating a patient, and feeling inadequately prepared to help with the emotional needs of a patient [7]. Based on the findings of studies conducted in multicultural countries such as Vietnam [6], Iran [8], India [5], and French [9], occupational stress, an inseparable component of the nursing profession, leads to dissatisfaction, illness, burnout, job abandonment, reduced productivity, and decreased quality of patient care in the long run [10]. Among various nursing groups, nurses working in the intensive care units (ICUs) are faced with a high risk of stress, fatigue, and illness due to the high-quality care, long hours of stays in the hospital, lack of protection facilities, noise pollutions caused by device alarms, end-stage patients' care, and participation in the patients' grief [11].…”

Ebe Ve Hemşi̇relerde Çalişma Koşullarinin Obsesi̇f Kompulsi̇f Bozukluk Ve Anksi̇yete Üzeri̇ne Etki̇si̇ni̇n Beli̇rlenmesi̇

“…Çalışma koşulları ağır ve yoğun stresli olan hastaneler sağlık çalışanları için fiziksel, sosyal ve psikolojik pek çok sağlık riskini içinde barındırmaktadır (2,16). Sağlık ekibinin önemli bir parçası olan ebe ve hemşirelerin çalışma koşulları incelendiğinde dikkat gerektiren hassas alanlarda çalıştıkları, olumsuz yaşam olaylarına tanıklık ettikleri; rol belirsizliği, iş yükü ve vardiyalı çalışma nedeniyle yoğun stres yaşadıkları görülmektedir (17)(18)(19)(20)(21). OKB'si olan bireyler gündelik yaşamlarında bir işi tamamlayıp tamamlamadıkları, eksik bırakma konusunda emin olamadıkları, birilerine veya kendilerine bir zarar verip vermediklerine dair şüphe içerinde olduklarını dile getirmektedirler.…”