Abstract
Most studies were limited to explore work stress symptoms of the hospital nurses due to work only, and work stress symptoms from factors related to family environments were neglected.This study was to explore the nurses’ work stress symptoms and the influences of demographic characteristics, family, and nursing work environments on the degrees of the stress symptoms. 166 nurses were recruited from a regional teaching hospital. Cross-sectional and repeated measures designs were used in this study.The results were shown as follows: (1) The daily average number of symptoms among hospital nurses was 5.92 symptoms/ per person, and the top three stress symptoms of the hospital nursing staff during the 5 working days are fatigue, neck and shoulder pains and back pain. (2) The affecting factors of work stress symptoms were correlated with family-work conflicts, self-perceived stress from nursing work and working years of this job.(3) The main factors related to workstress symptoms among nurses was the working years of this job, and each extra working year will relieve 0.153 stress symptoms from each nurse.It was recommended that the managers of the hospital could set up a 24-hour nursery, to ease the conflicts between work and domestic roles among nurses. In addition, the workplace should arrange in-service educations related to positive stress coping strategies. Future studies should apply the longitudinal follow-up design, and undergo the effectiveness of the educational programs on stress adaptation strategies.
Highlights
The corporate work environment has become more stressful over time because of the merging, downsizing, and increasing competition (Salmond &Ropis, 2005)
According to the univariate analysis, the affecting factors of workstress symptoms were correlated with family-work conflicts, self-perceived stress from nursing work and working years of the job
The main factors related to workstress symptoms among nurses was the working years of this job, and each additional working year will relieve 0.153 stress symptoms from nurses
Summary
The corporate work environment has become more stressful over time because of the merging, downsizing, and increasing competition (Salmond &Ropis, 2005). Negative symptoms of stress include physical, psychological, and behavioral symptoms such as increased heart rates, headaches, ulcers, anxiety, anger, and substance abuses (Sheu, Lin, & Hwang, 2002). According to Jamal and Baba’s study (2000), workstress among nurses and nursing managers was significantly correlated with psychosomatic symptoms. These symptoms included headaches, upset stomachs, sleep disturbances, disturbances in bowel movement, losses of appetite, nervousness, and morning sicknesses. Yeung,Genaidy, Deddens and Sauter (2005) carried out a cross-sectional study among 97 female registered nurses. They found that over workload was associated with musculoskeletal symptoms including discomfort of the back, hands/wrists, and legs. According to the study of Krantz, Berntsson, and Lundberg (2005), the most prevalent and severe symptom of stress in women was shoulder and neck pain, followed by headaches and sleep disturbance
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