Stress, Stress Reactions, Job Stressors and Coping among Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units and General Wards of a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Literature has presented nursing as a stressful profession. The present study was conducted to compare stress level and job stressors operating in two different units, i.e. intensive care units (ICU) and general wards of a tertiary care hospital of North India. This is a cross-sectional study involving 285 nurses (general wards = 176; ICU = 109). The nurses were selected conveniently. Demographic profile sheet, modified workplace stress scale (WSS), workplace stress symptom scale (WSSS) and coping checklist (CCL) of Rao, Subbakrishna and Prabhu (1989) was used in the study. Findings of the study revealed moderate to high stress level among general wards and ICU nurses with young female nurses experiencing more stress. Further, workload, role ambiguity and lesser social support accounted for significant amount stress among nurses working on both the units while external factors, such as physical environment and resources hardly contributed to stress. It was also found that the ICU nurses experienced stress more in the form of exhaustion (11.9%); irritation (11.9%) and reduced self-confidence (0.9%) that those working in general wards. However, the nurses on both the units use distraction, positive coping, problem-solving and religious strategies to manage and handle their stress. The findings of the study give insight into stress and stressors related to job which can be buffered using various stress management strategies by the nurse managers.