The Relationship Between Workload and Job Stress in Emergency Room Nurses

Abstract

This study aims to examine the relationship between workload and job stress among emergency room nurses at Prof. Dr. H. Aloei Saboe Regional General Hospital, Gorontalo City. A quantitative correlational research design with a cross-sectional approach was employed. The total population of 33 emergency room nurses was included as research participants through total sampling. Data were collected using standardized Likert-scale questionnaires measuring workload and job stress, adapted respectively from Gawron in Grech et al. (2009) and Robbins and Judge referenced in Ramlah et al. (2021). The collected data were analyzed using the Spearman Rank correlation test with a significance level of α = 0.05, following preliminary descriptive and normality examinations. The findings indicate that 48.5% of nurses experienced workload in the moderate category, while 39.4% reported moderate job stress levels. The correlation test revealed a strong positive relationship between workload and job stress (r = 0.890, p < 0.05), demonstrating that increased workload is associated with higher stress among nurses. These results emphasize the importance of workload management and institutional support in reducing psychological strain and enhancing the well-being of emergency room nursing personnel.