Occupational stress and its dimensions in nurses employed in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Occupational stress, in addition to reducing the quantity and quality of patient care, and creating physical and psychological problems in nurses, can be costly for organizations. The aim of this study was to evaluate occupational stress and its dimensions in nurses employed in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 2014-15.

In this descriptive study, 212 nurses working in four hospitals affiliated to the university were selected through Quota Sampling in two steps. Data collection instruments were a questionnaire with demographic and clinical information and a standard questionnaire, Osipow Occupational Role Questionnaire (ORQ) with six dimensions. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression models with SPSS version 19.

The findings showed that the majority of nurses (67.5%) showed normal occupational stress, and 15.6% showed no stress. Furthermore, 15.1% and 1.9% of the nurses reported moderate and severe occupational stress, respectively. The results of linear regression analyses showed that the type of hospital ward was the most important variable in correlation with the nurses’ occupational stress and its dimensions, except for the physical environment dimension (P < 0.05, β= 0.16-0.34).

The results show that there is still a group of nurses who needs special support. Nursing managers could plan, based on the ward type, to implement measures to help nurses reach an optimal level of stress. Maybe this would improve the quality of nursing care for patients and health promotion in nurses.