Sources of stress in high performance healthcare organization: A study comparing intensive care and general ward nurses

Tamoor Gill; Gideon Victor; Raisa Kousar; Noman Iqbal

doi:10.32593/jstmu/Vol3.Iss1.64

Tamoor Gill Shifa International Hospitals Ltd., Islamabad, Pakistan
Gideon Victor Shifa College of Nursing, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6307-941X
Raisa Kousar Shifa International Hospitals Ltd., Islamabad, Pakistan
Noman Iqbal Department of Nursing, Islamabad Nursing College, Islamabad, Pakistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32593/jstmu/Vol3.Iss1.64

Keywords: Stress, nurses, intensive care, general ward

Abstract

Objective: To compare stressors of nurses working in intensive care units and general wards of a high-performance health care organization.

Methodology: A comparative cross-sectional survey was conducted. Using stratified random sampling, 121 intensive care and 121 general ward nurses, cumulatively 242 were offered to participate in the study. IRB and EC approvals were obtained. A self-administered questionnaire with structured responses was used for data collection. The data were analyzed for descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS 23.

Results: The study participants were predominantly 152(62.8%) female; 182(75.2%) having diploma in nursing and 169(69.8%) RN-I; 38(31.4%) intensive care and 35(28.9%) general ward nurse who were performing 12-hours shift duty; 50(41.3%) intensive care and 65(51.2%) general ward nurses were dissatisfied with their salary. The average patients assigned to intensive care nurse were two and six to a general ward nurse. Independent t-test and ANOVA revealed significant difference of stressors in intensive versus general ward nurses, gender, working hours, satisfaction with salary, professional qualification, experience and shift work (P-Value <0.05). Common stressors were unclear demands, pressured to work long hours, not having control at workplace and being not able to talk to line managers about something that has upset or annoyed them at workplace.

Conclusion: The general ward nurses face more stressors than intensive care units’ nurses. Workplace stressors could compromise healthy working environment and patient safety whereas favorable environment could increase job satisfaction, staff productivity, and quality of care. Workplace-oriented stress management strategies must be adopted.

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