Occupational Stress, Strain, and coping among nursing personnel: A hospital-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system and the largest healthcare force in the world. They work in multidisciplinary areas in hospitals, nursing homes, government and private sectors, and research and development, which makes them the most stressful personnel in clinical areas. Objectives This paper aims to explore occupational stress, strain, and coping among nurses working in a hospital in Bengaluru. Methodology: A nonexperimental hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2, 2022, to December 2, 2022, using a purposive sampling technique. A total of 77 nurses from different areas participated in the study. Data was collected by the researcher himself through the revised version of the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI-R) scale. Descriptive statistics were used with the mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage. To check the association, chi-square analysis was used. Results The research shows that the majority of the nurses had maladaptive stress in terms of role insufficiency (RI), role ambiguity (RA), role boundary (RB), and physical environment (PE). It was observed that there was a high level of vocational strain (VS) and interpersonal strain (IS) with an average social support system (SS) among nurses. A significant association was found between gender and ORQ factors like physical environment, designation of the nurse and ORQ in the area of responsibility, and physical environment of the working area. The PSQ factor, vocational strain was significantly associated with gender. Furthermore, a significant association was also found between gender and PRQ factors like self-care coping and social support (SS) coping skills. Conclusion Our data suggested a moderate to high level of occupational stress with less social support among nurses. Consequently, it is imperative for healthcare organizations to acknowledge the existence of occupational stress and collaborate towards devising a resolution, enabling nurses to provide patients with optimal care.