Occupational stress among hospital nurses in Gaza-Palestine

Background: By the end of 2012, the Syrian conflict had already reached the Palestinian refugee camps, with more than half of the Palestinian refugees fleeing to Lebanon, Jordan, or displaced internally. Of about 10, 000 Palestinian refugees from Syria living in Jordan, 200 are hosted in Cyber City in the north, a government appointed refugee camp, and the rest are scattered in the community. This study aimed to assess the morbidity patterns among Cyber City refugees and compare with patterns in other locales where Palestinian refugees from Syria are located. Methods: Data were collected during the period Jan-Oct, 2013 from 24 UNRWA clinics, Cyber City clinic, and hospital admissions records from four hospitals in north Jordan. Analyses were completed using the Excel toolkit. Results: Palestinian Refugees paid 13,523 visits to health care centers overall. 10141 (75%) visits were for curative treatment, 1807 (13%) oral treatment, 891 (6.5%) maternal health and 684 (5%) child care. 26% of all visits were made to the Cyber City clinic where only 200 Palestinian refugees from Syria live. Overall, 214 cases were referred to hospital, 200 from Cyber City and 14 from other community clinics with digestive system (14%), respiratory system (12%), musculoskeletal and connective tissue (10%), circulatory system (9%), endocrine, nutrition, and metabolism related morbidities, Injury, poisoning and other consequences of external causes (9%), and pregnancy and child birth (8%). Interpretation: Utilization of health care appears to be significantly higher in Cyber City compared to other locales were Palestinian refugees from Syria are located. This may