The comparison of the kinds of mental-social stresses of teaching hospitals’ nursing staff in Birjand between 2004 and 2014

Background and Aim: Nursing is one of the most stressful jobs. The high level of stress affects the physical and mental health of nurses and their job performance .The purpose of this study is comparing the psychosocial stresses of the nursing staff of the educational hospitals in Birjand between 2004 and 2014. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 306 nursing staff of educational hospitals (Imam Reza and Vali-e-Asr) in Birjand city were selected by census and studied. Then, the results of this study were compared with the results of a study done in 2004 on 247 nursing staff of Imam Reza and Vali-e-Asr hospitals of Birjand for this purpose. The data collection method was a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of 85 questions in three sections of personal stress, family and work environment that was completed by the Data were collected by SPSS software (version 16) and analyzed by independent t-test at a significant level of α< 0.05. Results: The mean of stress score in the year 2004 was 3.11 ± 1.25 and in the year 2014 was 3.03 ± 1.15. This difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.44). The stress caused by family factors and work environment in 2014 was significantly lower than in 2004 (P = 0.02, P = 0.005). However, the stress was not due to personal factors between two years. (P = 0.12). Conclusion: Although the level of stress in the nursing staff of educational hospitals has fallen more than 10 years ago, it still has a high level