A comparative study to assess the level of stress among the nurses

Abstract

Background & objectives-Nursing profession is stressful profession by its nature of work. The main objective of this study is to assess the
level of stress among nurses working in various department such as intensive care units and general wards at tertiary care hospital. MethodA non probability convenience sampling technique was adopted to select 300 registered nurses from different working area of Krishna
Hospital & Medical Research Centre, Karad.Modified expanded nursing stress scale (MENSS) was used to collect data. Result- With
reference to current working area (Ward) majority 34% (102) of the nurses were from ICU, 22.7% (68) from female ward and 15% (45)
from male ward whereas least 12.7% (38), 9.3% (28)and 6.3% (19) nurses were respectively from maternity pediatric and operation theater
area.Nurses currently working in Intensive care unit, 11% (33) nurses were experienced mild stress, 19% (57) were having moderate stress
and 04% (12) nurses were experienced severe stress whereas general wards, 10% (30) nurses were experienced mild stress, 36.66% (110)
were having moderate stress and 13% (39) nurses were experienced severe stress. Conclusion -Though there has been adequate clinical
skills training in the nursing curriculum, little attention is paid to make the working environment less stressful and more conducive to healthy
interactions. Emotional preparation of nurses in dealing with patients is required. Need to use Stress reduction activities and measures to
handle stressful situation and interpersonal stress.