Last update:
04-Jun-2021

OBJECTIVE To determine the level of occupational stress among nursing staff in a general hospital in Attica, Greece, and to investigate its determinants.

METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to May 2020 with a convenience sample of 144 members of the nursing staff of the hospital. The response rate was 80% (144/180). The study outcome was the level of occupational stress, and the determinants investigated were sex, age, marital status, children, educational level, years of experience, monthly income, job characteristics and shiftwork. The Expanded Nursing Stress Scale was used to estimate the level of occupational stress.

RESULTS The most stressful situations, according to the scores on the Expanded Nursing Stress Scale were, in descending order: Death and dying, patients and family, uncertainty concerning treatment, problems with supervisors, workload, conflict with physicians, inadequate preparation, problems with peers, and discrimination. A higher number of years of experience was related with lower levels of total stress (p=0.02), stress concerning problems with peers (p=0.02) and stress concerning uncertainty about treatment (p=0.01). A higher educational level was associated with lower levels of stress concerning death and dying (p=0.02), stress concerning problems with peers (p=0.047), stress concerning workload (p=0.02) and stress concerning patients and family (p=0.005). Increased age was related with lower levels of stress due to problems with supervisors (p=0.011) and discrimination (p=0.034).

CONCLUSIONS Nursing staff experience increased occupational stress due to the nature of nursing work and the increased work demands in Greek hospitals.

Key words: Determinants, General hospital, Nursing staff, Occupational stress.