occupational stress among nurses

Josfeena Bashir

Occupation, stress, nurses, job

Nursing or care for the sick has existed since the beginning of the civilization. But it has not proper recognition till the starting of the 19th century. It has been emerged as a profession in the late 19th century by and the 20th century it had evolved into a specialty with unique role function. Along with the increased demand and progress in the nursing profession. The stress among the nurses has also increased. It is generallyperceived that nursing profession undergoes remarkable stress. Thus is more common in staff nurses working in specialty, critical care areas. This results in stress which affects patient care, job performance and job satisfaction. Stress is a multi-dimensional perception and may be defined based on language and organizational viewpoints. It often occurs when individuals’ physical and emotional do not match or cannot handle their job demands, constraints and/or opportunities. It may establish two major types of stress: Eustress (good stress) and distress (bad stress) (Fevre et al., 2003; Sullivan &Bhagat, 1992). Eustress is often defined as persons who have faced moderate and low stress levels and distress is normally defined as individuals who have experienced high stress. Individuals who face eustress will meet job demands and this may help them to increase positive work life (e.g., professional interest and development). Conversely, persons who faced distress will not able to achieve job demands and this may decrease quality of work life (e.g., dissatisfaction and negative moral values) (Fevre et al., 2003; Leka et al., 2004; Millward, 2005; Newell, 2002).

Volume 4 Issue 5, May-2019

Pages : 34 - 35