Occupational stressors among nurses working in urgent and emergency care units

Abstract

The study aimed to assess occupational stressors among nurses working in urgent and emergency care facilities. It is a descriptive research developed in two public hospitals of different complexity degrees, with 49 nurses. Data were collected from June to September 2011. The Bianchi's Stress Scale, which is composed of six domains: Relationship, Unit functioning, Staff management, Nursing care, Unit coordination, and Work conditions was used to assess occupational stressors based on the regular activities performed by nurses. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Mann Whitney-U test. For the nurses working in the high complexity healthcare facility - hospital A the most stressful domain was Nursing care, while for those professionals working in the medium complexity healthcare facility - hospital B, Staff management was the most stressful domain. The nurses from hospital A perceived care-related activities as more stressful, while for those in hospital B administrative activities were considered more stressful.

Keywords

• Estrés psicológico
• Enfermería
• Servicio de urgencia en hospital
• Socorro de urgencia