Current status of nursing work environment and influences on perceived stress in nursing staff

Abstract

Objective To investigate the current status of nursing work environment and nurses′ perceived stress, and to explore the influences of work environment on perceived stress in nursing staff. Methods The study used questionnaire survey to investigate 302 nurses of a second-class hospital in Shanghai from February to April in 2014. The scores of nursing work environment and perceived stress would be collected and the results would be evaluated and correlation analyzed. Results The average score of nursing work environment was (218.92±33.54). The scores of workload and acceptance were lowest, and the scores of system maintain and transform were highest. The average score of the perceived stress scale was (26.58±6.10); however, 103 (34.1%) nurses were still in unhealthy status. Furthermore, the work environment had negative correlation to the perceived stress (r=-0.422). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that workload and system maintain and transform were impact factors of perceived stress. Conclusions Nursing work environment is closely related to nurses′ perceived stress. Thus, the perceived stress can be relieved by reducing nurses′ workload and improving system maintain and transform in order to develop their health and the quality of nursing. Key words: Nursing; Perceived stress; Work environment; Correlation