Stress Among New Oncology Nurses

Abstract

New oncology nurses face multiple stressors related to the predicted nursing shortage,demanding work responsibilities, and growing complexity of cancer care. The confluence of these stressors often causes new nurses to leave their profession. The loss of new nurses leads to staffing, economic, and safety concerns, which have a significant impact on the quality of oncology nursing care.

Job stress in new nurses during the transition period: an integrative review

“…Naholi et al. () examined sources of stress and self‐management approaches in new oncology nurses in the USA. Items highly rated by nurses as stressful related to workloads, death and dying, and inadequate work preparation.…”

Expressive writing as an intervention to decrease distress in pediatric critical care nurses

“…[6] Stress, an antecedent to distress, is common among nurses who provide complex care and challenging workloads. [8] Statistics indicate that 32% of nurses report high levels of distress, which is higher than the 18% reported by the general population. [9] When nurses are not able to function effectively, process the various situations they encounter, and remain emotionally healthy and professionally committed, working within these settings the outcome will be distress.…”

Becoming a good nurse – Socialisation of newly employed nurses into the oncological clinic

“…However, a problem could be that the clinic retains nurses who are predisposed to accept the predefined roles and performance and thereby maintain the order of the clinic and the power structure, whereby the possibilities for development of the roles of nurses and the nursing profession are limited. The risk that newly qualified nurses leave the clinic, and perhaps the profession, is always present when opportunities for personal development, growth and creativity are limited in work execution and in cooperative relationships (Anselmo‐Witzel et al, 2017; Cummings et al, 2013; Hayes et al, 2012; Naholi et al, 2015; Ribeiro da Silva et al, 2017). This uniform socialisation, where all nurses are socialised to think and act in the same way and in principle be interchangeable with one another, calls for a mainstream nurse and excludes per se nurses who could add innovation to the profession.…”

“…Personal development, insufficient introduction or opportunity to influence own work situation are of major importance to nurses (Flinkman & Salanterä, 2015). Only few studies have explored introduction processes and retention strategies in the oncological field (Cummings et al, 2013; Naholi, Nosek, & Somayaji, 2015). These studies show that job satisfaction is important for retaining nurses in their job.…”

“…These studies show that job satisfaction is important for retaining nurses in their job. Nurses identify job satisfaction as consisting of autonomy, relational leadership, supervisor support, positive relationships, a workload that allows nurses to perform quality care (Cummings et al, 2013; Naholi et al, 2015) and positive interactions (Ribeiro da Silva, de Souza Velasque, & Tonini, 2017). It has not been possible to find studies focusing on unit managers’ strategy of introduction and newly employed nurses’ experiences of the practical outcomes of this strategy in their introduction process in the oncological field.…”