Causes and consequences of occupational stress in nursing

Uvod: Stres je rezultat odstopanja med fizičnimi ali psihološkimi zahtevami situacije ter posameznikovo zaznano zmožnostjo spoprijemanja z njimi. Dolgotrajen in intenziven stres ima lahko resne posledice na vseh področjih človekovega delovanja, negativno pa vpliva tudi na delovno uspešnost ter varnost pri delu. Vse to lahko vodi k manjšemu zadovoljstvu s službo in posledično zapuščanju poklica zdravstvene nege. Namen: Namen diplomskega dela je proučiti povezanost zaznanega stresa medicinskih sester v Sloveniji z nekaterimi dejavniki (spol, starost, izobrazba, delovna doba, dežurstva, raven zdravstva) in posledicami (premišljevanje in namera o opustitvi službe). Metode dela: V diplomskem delu smo uporabili kvantitativno metodo raziskovanja, in sicer smo izvedli anonimno anketo prek spletne odprtokodne platforme 1KA s strukturiranim vprašalnikom. Vključili smo priložnostni vzorec srednjih in diplomiranih medicinskih sester. Udeleženci (n = 8784 % žensk) so izpolnili vprašalnik zaznanega stresa, ocenili svojo namero opustitve svoje službe in pogostost premišljevanja o opustitvi službe ter podali podatke o svojih sociodemografskih značilnostih in značilnostih svojega delovnega mesta. Analizo pridobljenih podatkov smo opravili s pomočjo programa IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Izvedli smo opisno statistiko ter za skupne ocene zaznanega stresa ocenili normalnost podatkov z numerično metodo izračuna sploščenosti in asimetrije. Razlike med skupinami smo preverili z uporabo t-testa, povezanost med spremenljivkami pa s Pearsonovim korelacijskim koeficientom. Rezultati: Čeprav je bil opazen trend, ki je nakazoval višji zaznani stres pri mlajši starosti, ženskem spolu, zaposlitvi na primarni ravni zdravstva ter delovno dobo pod 25 let, ti učinki niso bili statistično značilni. Poleg tega nismo ugotovili značilne povezave med različnimi stopnjami izobrazbe s področja zdravstvene nege ali številom dežurstev v zadnjem mesecu ter zaznanim stresom anketirancev. Rezultati so pokazali statistično značilno pozitivno povezavo med višjo ravnjo zaznanega stresa pri posameznikih in njihovim premišljevanjem ter namero o opustitvi svoje službe. Razprava in zaključek: Naša raziskava je sicer vključevala razmeroma majhen vzorec medicinskih sester, kljub temu pa nakazuje, da sociodemografske značilnosti in značilnosti delovnega mesta nimajo ključne vloge pri zaznanem stresu. Zapuščanje poklica, selitev v tujino in posledično pomanjkanje kadra so hudi problemi v poklicu zdravstvene nege, o katerih je nujno treba govoriti. Ugotovitve naše raziskave osvetljujejo, da je zapuščanje poklica (premišljevanje o tem in namera) povezano z zaznanim stresom. Zdravstvene organizacije bi lahko uvedle redne razbremenilne supervizije, tematske delavnice in izobraževanja z namenom zmanjševanja stresa zaposlenih.Introduction: Stress is the result of a discrepancy between physical or psychological demands of a situation and a person’s perceived capability to cope with them. Prolonged and intense stress can have serious consequences for all areas of people’s functioning, and can also have a negative impact on their job performance and workplace safety. This can lead to reduced job satisfaction and, consequently, to employees leaving the nursing profession. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine associations between perceived stress among nurses in Slovenia and selected factors (gender, age, education, years of experience, shift work, level of healthcare) and consequences (intention and deliberation of leaving the nursing profession). Methods: In this thesis, we employed a quantitative research method, namely we conducted an anonymous survey using an online open-source platform 1KA with a structured questionnaire. A convenience sample of high school and university nurses was involved. The participants (n = 8784% female) filled in a questionnaire on perceived stress, assessed their intention and frequency of deliberation of leaving their job, and reported on their sociodemographic and work-related characteristics. The analysis of data was conducted with the IBM SPSS Statistics 26 program. We performed the descriptive statistics and assessed the normality of data using a numerical method of kurtosis and skewness calculation for overall perceived stress scores. Group differences were tested using t-tests, and the correlation between variables was evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: Although a trend emerged suggesting perceived stress increases with younger age, female gender, employment on primary level of healthcare, and less than 25 years of experience in the field of nursing, those effects were not statistically significant. Moreover, perceived stress did not correlate statistically significantly with levels of education or the number of on-call shifts in the last month. The study revealed statistically significant positive correlation between higher levels of perceived stress and individuals’ contemplation and intention of leaving their job. Discussion and conclusion: Though our study included a relatively small sample of nurses, it suggests that sociodemographic and workplace characteristics do not play a crucial role in nurses’ perceived stress. Leaving the profession, emigration, and consequently, the shortage of workforce are pressing issues in the nursing profession that need to be urgently addressed. The findings of our research highlight the role of nurses’ perceived stress in their intentions and deliberations on leaving the profession. Healthcare organizations could implement regular supportive supervisions, thematic workshops, and educational programs aimed at reducing employee stress