Work-Related Stress Among Nurses Working in Pediatric Units

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Alharbi, M.F., Bishi, S.I., & Alsulami, N. (2023). Work-related stress among nurses working in pediatric units. Pediatric Nursing, 49(6), 297-305.

Aim: The study aim was to examine the relationships among workplace stress (psychological, physical, and social environments), nurses' personal characteristics, work characteristics, and safety climate in pediatric units.

Methods: A descriptive correlational design was employed. In total, 138 nurses were recruited through convenience sampling from a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia. Of the total, 137 (99.3%) were females, 134 (97.1%) were nonSaudi, and more than half (n = 96, 69.6%) provided direct care at pediatric specialty units. Data were collected from February to May 2019 using a questionnaire that included the personal details, work conditions, surveys on an expanded nursing stress scale, and patient safety culture.

Results: Average stress scores for social working environments were highest (2.98; SD = 0.76), whereas psychological and physical working environments were 2.92 (SD = 0.74) and 2.84 (SD = 0.65), respectively, and were seen as less stressful. A 37.0% of the variance in stress among pediatric nurses was explained by organizational learning, supervisor manager expectations within the patient safety aspect, and nationality.

Conclusion: Study findings determined stress scores in which social and psychological work environment dimensions were higher than local and international benchmark scores, and predicted various factors of stress among nurses working in pediatric units.

Implications: COVID-19 is still present, and immediate countermeasures are needed. These findings can become the guide in formulating a tailored supportive program toward the elimination of stress to provide quality and safe pediatric nursing care.

Keywords: Workplace stress, work profile, patient safety, nurses, pediatric units.

Workplace stress has affected most professions as a worldwide phenomenon. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported that 40% of workers were extremely stressed at their jobs, 25% considered their jobs as the primary stressor in their lives, 75% believed work had become more stressful than what it was a generation ago, 29% of workers felt quite a bit or extremely stressed at work, and 26% of workers said they were often or very often burned out or stressed by their work (NIOSH, 2014). The United States Occupational Safety and Health Institute has ranked nursing on the 27th position among 130 professions studied...