Stress and Job Satisfaction among Nurses: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This survey-based descriptive research has been undertaken in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, as comparative study to identify and differentiate sources of stress and its impact on job satisfaction of nurses working in four departments, namely, intensive care unit, operation theatre, emergency department and ward. Sources of stress have been analyzed under three dimensions namely, role-related stressors, workload-related stressors and working hour-related stressors. The study has sampled 360 nurses qualified with Diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery (DGNM) and Bachelor of Science in Nursing courses from 45 general types of private hospitals using stratified sampling technique. Weighted average method has been applied to analyze sources of stress. Mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation have been used to understand perception of nurses working in these four departments towards sources of stress. Kruskal Wallis test has been administered to examine the relationship between sources of stress and demographic variables. The results identified from these three dimensions of stressors have shown that unclear role and responsibilities, unknown about expectations of hospital, carrying out several works at the same time, too many patients and too much works and too long and unsociable working hours have been the foremost stressors of nurses. Moreover, all three dimensions of stressors have been perceived at medium level by majority of the nurses. The result also found that among three dimensions of stressors role-related stressors has occupied the first place and working hour and workload-related stressors have been next in line. The study has given suitable suggestions to overcome the stress.