American Journal of Health Research

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Occupational Stress Among Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units in Public Hospitals of Khartoum State, Sudan 2016

Received: 19 September 2016    Accepted: 30 September 2016    Published: 25 October 2016
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Abstract

Background: Stress is frequently associated with critical care nursing. Nurses experience stressful situations in their daily working environments. Objective: To study occupational stress and stressors experienced by nurses working in intensive care units at public hospitals of Khartoum state. Methods: A cross-section study was carried at 14 public hospitals. A sample of 139 nurses was chosen by a simple random sampling technique. The nurses were interviewed by a questionnaire including Expanded Nursing Stress Likert Scale and the main factors that contribute to work-related stress. Data was managed by statistical package for social science version 20. Results: The mean score of overall occupational stress experienced by nurses was 1.88 with standard deviation of 0.50. The analysis of stress domains revealed that nurses rated the death and dying situations as the most stressful (M=2.23; SD=0.56), followed by workload (M=2.16; SD=0.61) and problems with supervisors (M=2.07; SD=0.82). The mean of occupational stress perceived when dealing with patients and their families was 1.92 ± 0.62 and stress due to uncertainty concerning treatments was 1.92 ± 0.68. While less occupational stress encountered in situations of problems with peers (M=1.89; SD=0.72), inadequate preparations (M=1.87; SD=0.74) and conflicts with physicians (M=1.73; SD=0.68). The least stressful domain was discrimination (M=1.10; SD= 0.82). Perceived occupational stress is significantly affected by socio-demographic determinants of participants such as marital status, working experiences and the type of ICU. Conclusions: The main sources of stress experienced by critical care nurses in Khartoum state hospitals were death and dying situations and workload. Work experiences were found to be significantly associated with stress perception in critical care nurses. The findings suggest that perceived stress does vary within different types of intensive care units.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13
Published in American Journal of Health Research (Volume 4, Issue 6, November 2016)
Page(s) 166-171
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Occupational Stress, Nurses, Intensive Care Units

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Author Information
  • Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

  • Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

  • Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

  • Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

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    Randa Abdalla Mohamedkheir, Zeinab Mohamed Amara, Siham Ahmed Balla, Haieder Abu Ahmed Mohamed. (2016). Occupational Stress Among Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units in Public Hospitals of Khartoum State, Sudan 2016. American Journal of Health Research, 4(6), 166-171. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13

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    Randa Abdalla Mohamedkheir; Zeinab Mohamed Amara; Siham Ahmed Balla; Haieder Abu Ahmed Mohamed. Occupational Stress Among Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units in Public Hospitals of Khartoum State, Sudan 2016. Am. J. Health Res. 2016, 4(6), 166-171. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13

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    AMA Style

    Randa Abdalla Mohamedkheir, Zeinab Mohamed Amara, Siham Ahmed Balla, Haieder Abu Ahmed Mohamed. Occupational Stress Among Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units in Public Hospitals of Khartoum State, Sudan 2016. Am J Health Res. 2016;4(6):166-171. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13,
      author = {Randa Abdalla Mohamedkheir and Zeinab Mohamed Amara and Siham Ahmed Balla and Haieder Abu Ahmed Mohamed},
      title = {Occupational Stress Among Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units in Public Hospitals of Khartoum State, Sudan 2016},
      journal = {American Journal of Health Research},
      volume = {4},
      number = {6},
      pages = {166-171},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.20160406.13},
      abstract = {Background: Stress is frequently associated with critical care nursing. Nurses experience stressful situations in their daily working environments. Objective: To study occupational stress and stressors experienced by nurses working in intensive care units at public hospitals of Khartoum state. Methods: A cross-section study was carried at 14 public hospitals. A sample of 139 nurses was chosen by a simple random sampling technique. The nurses were interviewed by a questionnaire including Expanded Nursing Stress Likert Scale and the main factors that contribute to work-related stress. Data was managed by statistical package for social science version 20. Results: The mean score of overall occupational stress experienced by nurses was 1.88 with standard deviation of 0.50. The analysis of stress domains revealed that nurses rated the death and dying situations as the most stressful (M=2.23; SD=0.56), followed by workload (M=2.16; SD=0.61) and problems with supervisors (M=2.07; SD=0.82). The mean of occupational stress perceived when dealing with patients and their families was 1.92 ± 0.62 and stress due to uncertainty concerning treatments was 1.92 ± 0.68. While less occupational stress encountered in situations of problems with peers (M=1.89; SD=0.72), inadequate preparations (M=1.87; SD=0.74) and conflicts with physicians (M=1.73; SD=0.68). The least stressful domain was discrimination (M=1.10; SD= 0.82). Perceived occupational stress is significantly affected by socio-demographic determinants of participants such as marital status, working experiences and the type of ICU. Conclusions: The main sources of stress experienced by critical care nurses in Khartoum state hospitals were death and dying situations and workload. Work experiences were found to be significantly associated with stress perception in critical care nurses. The findings suggest that perceived stress does vary within different types of intensive care units.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Occupational Stress Among Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units in Public Hospitals of Khartoum State, Sudan 2016
    AU  - Randa Abdalla Mohamedkheir
    AU  - Zeinab Mohamed Amara
    AU  - Siham Ahmed Balla
    AU  - Haieder Abu Ahmed Mohamed
    Y1  - 2016/10/25
    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13
    T2  - American Journal of Health Research
    JF  - American Journal of Health Research
    JO  - American Journal of Health Research
    SP  - 166
    EP  - 171
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8796
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20160406.13
    AB  - Background: Stress is frequently associated with critical care nursing. Nurses experience stressful situations in their daily working environments. Objective: To study occupational stress and stressors experienced by nurses working in intensive care units at public hospitals of Khartoum state. Methods: A cross-section study was carried at 14 public hospitals. A sample of 139 nurses was chosen by a simple random sampling technique. The nurses were interviewed by a questionnaire including Expanded Nursing Stress Likert Scale and the main factors that contribute to work-related stress. Data was managed by statistical package for social science version 20. Results: The mean score of overall occupational stress experienced by nurses was 1.88 with standard deviation of 0.50. The analysis of stress domains revealed that nurses rated the death and dying situations as the most stressful (M=2.23; SD=0.56), followed by workload (M=2.16; SD=0.61) and problems with supervisors (M=2.07; SD=0.82). The mean of occupational stress perceived when dealing with patients and their families was 1.92 ± 0.62 and stress due to uncertainty concerning treatments was 1.92 ± 0.68. While less occupational stress encountered in situations of problems with peers (M=1.89; SD=0.72), inadequate preparations (M=1.87; SD=0.74) and conflicts with physicians (M=1.73; SD=0.68). The least stressful domain was discrimination (M=1.10; SD= 0.82). Perceived occupational stress is significantly affected by socio-demographic determinants of participants such as marital status, working experiences and the type of ICU. Conclusions: The main sources of stress experienced by critical care nurses in Khartoum state hospitals were death and dying situations and workload. Work experiences were found to be significantly associated with stress perception in critical care nurses. The findings suggest that perceived stress does vary within different types of intensive care units.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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