Perceived work stress among emergency nurses of a tertiary care hospital in north India.

 

Abstract

Introduction: Emergency Departments (ED) of hospitals are recognised hot spots for work place stress. A population based approach to identify the extent of specific stressors would enable the hospital to take action at the organisational level in a proactive way. Methods All the nurses working in the ED (n=114) were recruited into the study. The HSE Management Standards Tool was used to gauge the responses of nurses to work stressors along with a few questions on socio demographic characteristics. Results The response rate was 86 per cent. The top three stressors were demands, relationships and control which required urgent action. This was followed by manager’s support whose scores indicated a need for improvement. Those who had less than five years of experience perceived manager’s support and control to be significantly lesser compared to those having more than five years of experience. Males perceived manager’s support to be significantly lesser compared to females. The positive aspects were good peer support and role clarity among the staff. Discussion: The study attempts to quantify stressors among the ED nurses in an Indian setting. Overall, more than 50 per cent of the nurses’ experience stress in either of the seven dimensions of stress. The study identifies three major stressors that require attention on an organisational basis. There is an urgent need to assess the workload vis-a-vis the total nurses’ strength and address the supply gap. The domain ‘Relationships’ requires assessment on an urgent basis. Concerns of the staff regarding the nature of manager’s support sought need to be assessed in detail. Steps should be taken to identify burn out among nurses at an individual level.