The Effect of Job Stress on the Quality of Life of Emergency Personnel

The emergency medical services (EMS) center is a community-centered prehospital center which has been coordinated with the entire health care system. The employees are the most important asset of this center. This study aimed to investigate occupational stress rate and its relation with quality of life among employees of Kerman’s EMS center, Iran. This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 200 employees of Kerman’s EMS center in 2013. A valid and reliable questionnaire was used for data collection. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, t-test, and regression test and SPSS software. In the employees of the EMS center, mean and standard deviation of job stress was 89.35 ± 5.4, which was at a moderate level. No significant relationship was observed between job stress and gender, marital status and having a second job. Mean and standard deviation of quality of life in the employees was 87.9 ± 4.5 which was at a high level. There was a strong negative relationship between job stress and quality of life.Discussion and Reducing job stress can increase the employee’s quality of life. Most stressors were related to how administrators support and make changes in the organization. Therefore, it is recommended that managers support their employees more and consult them on changes made in the work place in order to reduce stress and enhance their quality of life.