Coping work strategies and job satisfaction among Iranian nurses.

Shahrzad Ghiyasvandian,Addis Adera Gebra

doi:10.5812/ircmj.17779

Abstract

Context:Nursing is a stressful job that could create physical and psychological disorders. Many studies presented information on stress, effects of coping strategies, and job satisfaction of nurses within health setting. We aimed to identify and describe nursing stresses, coping strategies and job satisfaction of Iranian nurses who are working or worked in different wards.Evidence Acquisition:In this review, we studied peer-reviewed journal articles on the field of stress, coping strategies and job satisfaction in nursing practice, especially Iranian nurses, which were published between 2000 and 2013. In this regard, we searched databases of PubMed, Elsevier, Google, BMJ, PMC, and MEDLINE.Results:The majority of the studies (60%) had analyzed the effect of coping strategies, experiences and perception of job-related stresses in Iranian nurses working in hospitals. In some of the reviewed studies (60%), the majority of the samples enrolled Iranian nurses. Forty percent of studies selected a maximum sample size of 565 (44%) participants in 2011. Nursing stress scale employed at 30% of the studies was the most commonly used strategy. This reviewed studies also revealed a combined measurement (60% of studies), based on categorical stress measurement, effects of coping strategies, and job satisfaction methods. Three studies explored the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction. For instance, the majority (74.4%) of nurses reported job satisfaction.Conclusions:Effect of coping strategies and job satisfaction on Iranian nurses is a well-accepted issue and has important positive outcomes on several areas of health discipline.

Highlights

Stress is not inherently harmful; everyone’s cognitive appraisal, perceptions, and interpretations give meaning to events and determines them as negative or positive
The reliable information gathered in this review has provided helpful insight to different health settings in Iran when dealing with job stresses among nurses
This paper aims to identify and describe nursing stress, effect of coping strategies and job satisfaction of Iranian nurses who are working in hospitals or having work experience in different wards

Summary

Introduction

Stress is not inherently harmful; everyone’s cognitive appraisal, perceptions, and interpretations give meaning to events and determines them as negative or positive. Eustress is defined as the positive stress that allows an individual to remain productive regardless of changes in the external environment. As nurses cope with staffing shortage, rapid changes in patients’ conditions and technological advances, higher stress levels may appear in their work environment. This can interfere with their productivity and negatively affect the level of care provided to the patients (2). Nurses’ stress is defined as “The emotional and physical reactions resulting from the interactions between the nurse and her/his work environment where the demands of the job exceed capabilities and resources” (6). Many studies have focused on work stress among nurses because they work in a stressful environment, which has detrimental effects on their mental and physical health, productivity and efficiency at work, absenteeism, as well as outcomes for patients such as increased mortality and patient’s dissatisfaction (7)

Objectives

Methods

Results