Association of Perceived Social Support with Secondary Traumatic Stress and Perceived Stress in Nurses

As the leading providers of healthcare and treatment services, nurses are exposed to significant work-related stress and mental distress. The present study aimed to determine the effect of perceived social support on secondary traumatic stress and perceived stress in nurses.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on the nurses employed in the teaching hospitals affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Iran in 2018. In total, 220 nurses were selected via randomized quotient sampling. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the secondary traumatic stress questionnaire, perceived stress questionnaire, and perceived social support questionnaire by Zimet et al. (1988). Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using descriptive statistics and analytical tests at the significance level of P<0.05

In total, 220 nurses were enrolled in the study, the majority of whom (82.3%) were female. The mean age of the participants was 31.42±1.17 years. A significant, negative correlation was observed between the score of perceived social support of the nurses with their secondary traumatic stress score (r= -0.49; P<0.001) and perceived stress (r=-0.52; P<0.001).

According to the results, development of methods to promote perceived social support could decrease secondary traumatic stress and perceived stress in nurses.