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Stress among Nursing Staff in Hospitals and its Relation with Job Satisfaction, Job Performance and Quality of Nursing Care: A Literature Review

Abstract

Sravan Kumar M Y and Pretty Bhalla

Background: Stress has been one of the most commonly spoken about topics when it comes to nursing practice especially in hospitals. Stress has been linked with poor performance and increased intention of staff to leave the hospitals

Aim: This review aims to 1) Critical review all papers related to stress among nursing staff and explore the relationship of job stress among nursing staff with job performance, job satisfaction, intention to leave and quality of nursing care, 2) Identify the strategies deployed by nurses and organizations to manage stress among nurses and mitigate its effect, 3) Identify research gaps related to strategies engaged by organizations and nurses to manage nurses’ stress

Methods: Various databases were used for searching papers on stress like Google scholar, Ebscohost and Proquest. Key words included job stress, burnout, nursing staff and patient safety. The review included papers published from the year 2000 till 2019, conducted and published in any country as long as the language is English. Eligibility criteria were met by a total of 16 studies from the total of 35 papers which matched the search.

Conclusion: Many studies have reported that job stress is negatively correlated with job satisfaction, job satisfaction and quality of nursing care. Major contributors for job stress are identified as work load, shift works, long working hours and relationship with supervisors. Stress is reported to increase attrition, intention to leave and reduce retention and recruitment among nurses. Some studies have suggested that empowerment, support from supervisors and colleagues and planful problem solving tend to reduce job stress in nurses. One study reported that mindfulness meditation helped in reducing perceived stress and burnout among nurses. However, there is limited knowledge on how patient demands and expectations from the nursing professionals and as well as hospitals are contributing to job stress. Similarly, there are only few studies which have highlighted the strategies implemented by hospitals to reduce job stress among nursing staff and increase their job performance and this requires further research.