Investigation of mental workload and related factors among nurses from tertiary hospitals in Shandong

Abstract

Objective: To investigate mental workload among nurses from tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province, and analyze various factors related to mental workload. Methods: From May to July 2019, a cluster sampling method was used to select 8255 nurses from 20 third class a general hospitals in 16 cities of Shandong Province as the research objects, and 8159 valid questionnaires were collected. The general information and psychological load of nurses were investigated by general information questionnaire and task load index scale. The measurement data were expressed in percentage (%) ; the nurses' psychological load scores were in accordance with normal distribution, and the differences between groups were compared by t-test or ANOVA; the related influencing factors of nurses' psychological load were analyzed by multiple stepwise regression analysis. Results: The average scores of mental workload among nurses was 77.83 (SD=12.88) . Time demands and physical demands were the two highest rated dimensions of mental workload. the average scores were 90.77 (SD=12.47) and 79.92 (SD=15.23) . Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that Satisfaction with income, monthly average night shift and professional titles were the significant predictors of mental workload (R(2)=0.08) . Conclusion: Nurses with higher psychological load, lower income satisfaction, higher number of night shifts per month and lower title have higher psychological load.