Is work-associated stress converted into psychological distress among the staff nurses: A hospital-based study

INTRODUCTION: “Stress is the subjective feeling produced by events that are uncontrollable.” Constant stress brings about changes in the balance of hormones in the body which may lead to thoughts that make us feel frustrated, angry, nervous, anxious, etc., The aims of the study are (1) to find out the level of stress among staff nurses; (2) the association between sociodemographic determinants and working environment and stress; and (3) impact on their mental well-being in terms of somatic symptoms, anxiety/insomnia, social dysfunction, severe depression, and on work productivity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional-based cross-sectional study; total sample size comprised 100 staff nurses. Data were collected using a two-part questionnaire: Part I: socio demographic variables and working envioronment, Part II: Goldberg and Hillier's 28-item scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) used to measure the psychological aspect of quality of life of staff nurses. RESULTS: Hospital nurses reported mild (12%) to moderate/severe (77%) levels of job-related stress. The common stressors were poor attitude of male patients, absence of separate washroom for female nurses, posting in busy departments with increased workload, and inadequate salary. The single most important factor responsible for high levels of stress (70%) among the study subjects was inadequate salary. CONCLUSION: Assessing stress and job satisfaction is not a onetime action; it requires continuous monitoring and evaluation. Therefore, it is important to further explore how work-associated stress affects nurses, and what factors in their working environment cause the greatest burden.