Work-Related Stress and Its Psychodermatological Impact on Nursing Professionals

Purpose – This study aims to identify the status of occupational stress among a sample of hospital employees in Iran. It further intended to reveal the harmful effects of occupational stress on employees’ health and well-being. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a cross-sectional research design. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data from hospital employees. Findings – Job-related, working environment, interpersonal and organisational factors were related to occupational stress. One-fourth of employees rated their occupational stress high. The major sources of occupational stress were inadequate pay, inequality at work, too much work, staff shortage, poor recognition and promotion, time pressure, job insecurity and lack of management support. High levels of occupational stress have been linked to an increased risk of physical injuries, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, depression and increases in negative personal behaviours such as anger, anxiety and irritability. Occupational stress was positively associated with employees’ turnover intentions. Research limitations/implications – The findings of this study are not generalisable to the wider population of hospital employees in Iran due to the small sample size. Thus, future research should involve additional samples. Practical implications – The study has practical relevance for designing and implementing strategies to decrease occupational stress among hospital employees. Originality/value – This article contributes to health care theory and practise by identifying factors contributing to employees’ occupational stress and examining the association between occupational stress and two important employee outcomes – health status and turnover intention.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify visiting nurses' occupational satisfaction and their stress who are working at district health centers in Chungnam province. Methods: The subjects of the study were 109 visiting nurses of 16 district health centers in Chungnam province. The data were collected by self report questionnaires from March 1 to 31, 2010. The data were analyzed by Cronbach's <TEX>${\alpha}$</TEX>, t-test, ANOVA (Sheffe's test), and correlation coefficient using the SPSS program. Results: The results of this study were as follows. The occupational stress level of the subjects was 46.7 and the level of subjects' occupational satisfaction was 2.46. There was a significant negative correlation between occupational satisfaction and occupational stress (r=-.627). Conclusion: The occupational stress level of the subjects, and stress levels of 'work environment', 'job insecurity' and 'organizational structure' were higher than those of the Korean women workers' standard. The level of subjects' occupational satisfaction was lower than that of the nurse practitioners. There was a significant correlation among occupational stress and 'burden of workload' and 'visiting nurse career'. The study showed that occupational stress was correlated with occupational satisfaction. The results suggest that further follow-up study on visiting nurse is necessary to relieve their occupational stress and increase occupational satisfaction.

Background: Occupational burnout and fatigue are critical issues affecting the health and performance of healthcare workers (HCWs) globally. These outcomes are often driven by complex and overlapping work-related stressors, which remain insufficiently understood in combination. Objective: To investigate the associations of multiple work-related stressors with occupational burnout and fatigue, and to identify distinct stress patterns and critical stressors among HCWs. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a self-administered electronic questionnaire among 2695 HCWs in Shanghai, China. Validated questionnaire scales were used to assess work-related stress (self-developed occupational stress scale for medical staff, CSSM), occupational burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, MBI-GS), and fatigue (Fatigue Scale-14, FS-14). Latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to identify distinct work-related stress patterns. Generalized linear models (GLMs) were used to explore the associations between individual stressors, stress patterns, and occupational burnout and fatigue. Additionally, weighted quantile sum (WQS) models were utilized to evaluate the combined effects of multiple stressors and identify the main contributors. Results: In this study, 77.0% and 71.2% of participants were classified as experiencing occupational burnout and fatigue, respectively. A strained doctor-patient relationship was the highest-rated work-related stressor. All work-related stressors, including career development, interpersonal relationships, work-life imbalance, physical environment, doctor-patient relationship, social environment, and workload, were significantly associated with burnout (β: 0.444~0.956, p < 0.001) and fatigue (β: 1.384~3.404, p < 0.001). WQS assigned higher weights to career development and workload for burnout, and to workload and work-life imbalance for fatigue. LPA identified two distinct occupational stress patterns. HCWs characterized by higher stress levels in physical environment, career development, workload, and interpersonal relationships exhibited significantly higher burnout scores (β = 0.325, 95% CI: 0.122, 0.528), particularly in the reduced personal accomplishment (PA) dimension (β = 1.003, 95% CI: 0.746, 1.259). Conclusions: This study highlighted the high prevalence of occupational burnout and fatigue among HCWs in Shanghai, China. Occupational stressors were associated with both burnout and fatigue, with higher workload, work-life imbalance, and poorer career development showing particularly significant contributions. These findings emphasized the urgent need for targeted interventions, including workload management, career development programs, and mental health support, to reduce occupational stress and mitigate its adverse effects on HCWs.

To investigate the relationship between occupational chronic psychological stress with heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Using case-control study design, we selected 622 cases in 20 to 60 years old and unrelated patients with metabolic syndrome as the case group between October 2011 and October 2012 at two hospitals of Ningxia hui autonomous region. At the same time, we selected 600 healthy people from health check-up crowd in the above two hospitals as control group. The the research objects were sex, age, nation, height, weight, smoking, drinking, exercise, and so on. After informed consent, all the research objects were collected fasting venous blood samples 10 ml in order to proceed laboratory testing of biochemical indicators. The expression of HSP70 and TNF-α in serum was determined by ELISA. Using the revised occupational stress inventory (OSI) to survey the occupational chronic psychological stress factors and stress level of research object. The correlation of occupational chronic psychological stress scores with HSP70 and TNF-α was investigated by partial correlation analysis. We built a multivariate linear regression equation With HSP70 and TNF alpha as the independent variable and occupational chronic psychological stress scores as the dependent variable, using equation of the determination coefficient R(2) to judge the degree of fitting equation. The total points of chronic stress factors in all respondents was (136.65±16.19). Among them, the mild stress level group was 313, moderate was 588, severe was 321, chronic heart stress factors scores were (119.96±13.30), (135.33±3.23), (155.33±13.55) points, respectively. In the case group subjects, the expression of HSP70 in mild, moderate and severe occupational chronic psychological stress levels were (29.88±30.08), (36.38±30.08), (27.16±23.77) ng/ml (F=6.85, P=0.001). The control group were (27.64±9.89), (39.78±29.77), (3.94±3.09) ng/ml (F=125.71, P<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed the expression of psychological stress and HSP70 was a negative linear relationship, while positive linear relationship with TNF-α, the fitting of the regression equation was y=-0.07x1+ 0.011x2+ 136.88. Partial correlation analysis results showed that the occupational chronic psychological stress scores and negatively correlated with HSP70 (r=-0.11, P<0.001) and was positively related with TNF-α (r=0.11, P<0.001). In all survey respondents, the expression of HSP70 in mild, moderate and severe occupational chronic psychological stress levels group were (28.49±20.10), (37.99±29.96), (17.98±21.77) ng/ml (F=64.08, P<0.001). The expression of TNF-α were (133.61±129.51), (171.23±133.69), (169.31±196.09) pg/ml (F=6.93, P=0.001). The expression levels of HSP70 and TNF-α in serum were affected by occupational chronic psychological stress. While the level of occupational chronic psychological stress increased, the expression level of HSP70 in serum reduced, the expression level of TNF-α raised.

Several studies dedicated to the risk of work-related stress have already shown for some time that healthcare workers are subjected to multiple sources of stress. Recent literature has shown that the SARS CoV 2 pandemic has subjected healthcare workers in emergency/urgent departments and Covid −19 departments to work-related stress risk. In a Sicilian hospital, a sample of 50 health workers (25 men/25 women) was given the “INAIL questionnaire work-related stress risk” structured in 35 items to investigate 7 dimensions of occupational stress (1) Question, (2) Control, (3) Management support, (4) Support from colleagues, (5) Relationships, (6) Role, (7) Change. The results show in 27% of the sample a high level of occupational stress and in 62% an average level of occupational stress with little control and emotional exhaustion, especially in women. In conclusion, to avoid the chronicization of dysfunctional pictures, health institutions must provide staff with psychosocial support services to protect them from the risk of work-related stress.

Several studies have shown an association between work-related stress and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. ever, only a few studies concerned the police. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the general and work-related stress, and the functioning of the circulatory system in the police staff. The study group consisted of 126 policemen (aged 37.8 +/- 7.3 years), with average employment duration of 14.4 +/- 7 years. The study comprised the assessment of health status based on the medical examination and medical history of identified diseases, cardiovascular risk factors and symptoms, dietary habits, physical activity, intake of drugs, data on the family history, determinations of serum total cholesterol, HDL and LDL fractions, triglycerides, and fasting glycemia . The stress level was assessed using the Questionnaire for the Subjective Assessment of Work and Perceived Stress Scale. On medical examination hypertension was found in 36% of the people under study. Chest discomfort was reported by 60% of the subjects. Average body mass index (BMI), serum cholesterol and LDI, were elevated (22.7 +/- 4.1, 222.6 +/- 41.7 mg/dl and 142.7 +/- 39.7 mg/dl, respectively). Mean triglyceride, HDL fraction and fasting glucose levels were normal in the whole group. The levels of general and occupational stress were 34.914.8 and 128.0+33.3, respectively, being higher than in other occupational groups. In the group with the highest level of stress, there were significantly more people with circulatory problems (81%), drinking strong alcohol at least once a week (27%), working in a 3-shift system (40.5%) and working overtime (44%). The results show that the police are a group at high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases due to work-related stress.

Interpersonal competence as a moderator in the relation between occupational stress and organizational adaptation among nurses: A cross-sectional study

To determine the occurrence of occupational stress among Palestinian nurses, and their associated sources and risk factors. A cross-sectional descriptive design. A total of 250 registered nurses from eight governmental hospitals, using a convenience sampling method. Data collection were conducted using the 30-items self-reported Occupational Stress Scale from December 2022 to March 2023. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression analysis were applied to analysis data. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression analysis. The prevalence of high occupational stress levels was 64.8% (Mean = 3.9 out of 5). The main sources of stress are too much responsibility and work, understaffing, lack of promotion and recognition, inadequate pay, time pressure, and management style. The results regression analysis demonstrated that male nurses with a Masters or PhD degree and those working in fixed shifts experienced higher occupational stress. Moreover, participants who worked overtime hours were more susceptible to stress. The research indicates that occupational stress presents a notable challenge for nurses in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. It suggests that in order to alleviate this stress, decision-makers in healthcare policy and hospital management should prioritize the execution of strategies aimed at addressing the primary stressors and risk factors identified. This study adhered to the STROBE guidelines. A total of 250 registered nurses were taken part in this study by answering a self-administered study survey.

The presence of chronic work stress seems to amplify effects of psychiatric disorders and chronic physical conditions on disability. In addition, psychiatric disorders co-occurring with physical illness seem to be associated with significantly higher odds of disability.

Background:Occupational morbidities have been estimated to cause an economic loss up to 10–20% of the gross national product of a country. It is an important cause of occupational morbidity and decreased quality of life (QOL) for the workers.Aim:The aim of the present study is to assess the level of occupational stress and its association with the QOL among the public sector bank employees.Materials and Methods:The present study was conducted among employees of public sector banks in Mysore district, Karnataka, India. A cross-sectional study design was used for the study. Job stress was measured by using occupational stress index (OSI) scale questionnaire and health-related QOL was measured using the short form 12 (SF-12) questionnaire. The sample size estimated for the study was 526 and cluster random sampling technique was used. Chi-square test was used to find the association between the study variables and level of stress. Multiple linear regression model was used to find the determinants of health-related QOL among the study subjects.Results:The total number of the study subjects was 546 out of which 57% were males and 43% were females. The proportion of study subjects reporting to be current smokers was 4.2% and almost all study subjects reported occasional alcohol consumption. The mean physical component summary (PCS) score and mental component summary (MCS) using the original United States standardization were 47.90 and 48.30, respectively. The individuals with mild stress scored higher in both PCS and MCS than the individuals who had moderate to severe stress levels. There was significant association of health related quality of life with the age of the respondent,presence of at least one morbidity and level of stress with health-related QOL.Conclusion:This study has shown an association of occupational stress with the QOL. There is a need for interventions aimed at mitigating the occupational stress among employees of the banking sector.

BackgroundMost of the studies that have examined the association between the sub-factors of occupational stress and depressive symptoms have used cross-sectional data. However, our study has longitudinally measured the occupational stress and depressive symptoms of Korean workers of a semiconductor manufacturing company across six years to intending to investigate the associations between the sub-factors of occupational stress and depressive symptoms using longitudinal data.MethodsData collected from the workers of a semiconductor manufacturing company. Out of 1,013 recruited workers, 405 (40.0%) completed the survey questionnaires at 3 and 6-year follow-ups. Occupational stress was measured using a shorter version of the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS), whereas depressive symptoms were assessed using the Korean version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depressive Symptoms Scale (CES-D). The data of male and female participants independently analyzed. Longitudinal associations were analyzed using panel data analysis with fixed effects.ResultsIn panel data analysis with fixed effects, job insecurity (B = 0.048, p-value = 0.004) was associated with depressive symptoms among male workers. In female workers, inadequate social support (B = 0.080, p-value < 0.001), job insecurity (B = 0.039, p-value = 0.004), lack of reward (B = 0.059, p-value = 0.004) and discomfort in occupational climate (B = 0.074, p-value < 0.001) were associated with depressive symptoms among female workers.ConclusionsTemporal changes in the sub-factors of occupational stress were associated with changes in depressive symptoms within the same period. There was a gender difference in occupational stress sub-factors related to depressive symptoms.

The concept of stress has been a long and lingering topic of research for ages. Stress in nurses in particular is no exception. Occupational stress is the threats of a job that workers face in the line of duty. However, one cannot separate the stress that already exists in their individual lives from those they face in line of duty. It is, therefore, undoubtedly possible that the level of occupational stress recorded may not be solely occupational problems. This paper seeks to find out the level of stress in nurses of TTH and whether individual differences affect the stress levels of nurses taking gender, age and marital status into consideration. The study used the Wieman Occupational stress scale to measure stress level; t-test, One-Way and Three-Way ANOVA were used to determine the relationship between individual differences and levels of stress. Per the study, TTH records a mean score of 43.47 and an individual average score of 2.88 thus, 29% above normal stress level (baseline score: 33.75, 2.25 WOSS) indicating a generally high stress level among the nurses. A sample size of 452 revealed that there is a significant association between stress and gender (p = 0.041) and male nurses were more stressed than female nurses. There was also a significant association between age and level of stress (p = 0.00), where younger nurses (20 - 30 years) were more stressed than older nurses (30 - 40 years and above 40 years). However, no significant association was found between marital status and occupational stress. Although combined together, these three variables do not affect stress, the results for individual variables report the need for management and researchers to integrate individual differences when investigating or managing occupational stress.

BackgroundOccupational stress is increasing globally and affecting all workplaces and countries’ health professionals. Despite its significant impact on healthcare delivery, limited studies have actually compared the prevalence, causes, effects, and coping strategies of stress among nurses working in hospitals with variation in capacity and function in Ghana. We, therefore, examined and compared the prevalence, causes, effects and coping strategies of occupational stress among nurses working in a secondary care and tertiary hospital in Ghana.MethodsWe conducted a health facility-based cross-sectional study among 248 nurses from two hospitals (Volta Regional Hospital [VRH] and Ho Teaching Hospital [HTH]). The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Weiman Occupational Stress Scale (WOSS) were used to measure the nurses’ stress levels and causes of occupational stress respectively. A self-reported checklist was used to measure both the effects of stress and strategies. Descriptive analyses and t-tests were performed, and statistical significance was measured at the 0.05 level.ResultsThe majority of nurses 77.8% experienced a moderate level of perceived stress. The total individual mean scores of the nurses from the two hospitals (VRH = 3.02 and HTH = 3.09) were 34% and 37% respectively higher than the established WOSS individual average of 2.25. Nursing difficult patients (t=-1.1196, p = 0.037), Unfriendly relationships with superiors, colleagues, and subordinates (t=-2.3333, p = 0.020), working with incompetent staff (t=-1.3129, p = 0.037) were the statistically significant stressors among nurses in the HTH. Whereas, long work hours (t = 2.0841, p = 0.038) and needle-stick injuries (t = 2.6669, p = 0.008) were the statistically significant stressors among nurses from the VRH. Headache (VRH = 73.8% and HTH = 97.9%), Fatigue (VRH = 68.9% and HTH = 83.5%), Frustration VRH = 50.5% and HTH = 68.3%) and Lack of Concentration (VRH = 81.6% and HTH = 80.0%) were most common effects of occupational stress reported.ConclusionThe majority of nurses reported moderate levels of stress, with the two institutions’ stressors differing. Key causes of stress were needle stick injuries, long hours, dealing with challenging patients and strained interpersonal relationships. Common side effects were headaches, exhaustion, irritability, and trouble focusing. To accelerate progress towards achieving the sustainable development goal (SDG) 3.4 of promoting mental health and well-being by 2030, the 2012 Mental Health Act of Ghana and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, should fully and effectively be implemented in health facilities across the country.

Employee performance is a crucial factor in achieving organizational success, as it significantly impacts productivity, profitability, and overall business outcomes. This study investigates the impact of occupational stress on employee performance at Nepal Telecom Ltd., focusing on four major predictors: working environment, workload, salary and benefits, and job security. The research aims to understand how occupational stress influences employee efficiency and organizational effectiveness in the telecommunications sector. Data were collected from 325 employees using a structured questionnaire and convenience sampling. The study used Pearson's correlation and regression analysis to evaluate the correlation between predictors and employee performance, revealing that working environment, workload, salary and benefits, and job security significantly positively impact employee performance at Nepal Telecom Ltd. A supportive work environment, balanced workload, competitive salary and benefits, and job security collectively enhance employee performance by fostering comfort, motivation, and focus while minimizing stress and anxiety. The study highlights the importance of managing occupational stress and recommends creating supportive work environments, balancing workloads, offering competitive compensation, and ensuring job security to optimize employee performance.

tional stress researchers may investigate individual factors related to stress and well-being (e.g. personality, work-life balance, emotions, coping skills, etc.); job and organizational factors (e.g., work hours and schedules, role overload/underload/ambiguity, emotional labour, job insecurity, organizational climate); and even societal and national factors (e.g. cultural values; social, economic and environmental indicators). Yet, all too often, these variables are all measured at a single level, usually at the individual level. Thus, while we acknowledge that individual, group, organizational and even cultural variables are theoretically necessary to understand and predict stress outcomes, we rarely measure these variables at their appropriate level. The purpose of this editorial is to encourage researchers to take a multilevel approach to considering the relationships between occupational stress and wellbeing. This entails intentionally refl ecting on the individual, job, organizational and macroeconomic antecedents of employee stress. Such a multilevel framework can be fruitful not only for understanding the stress-strain process, but also crucial in developing and conceptualizing stress interventions. Thus, a multilevel approach can enhance both our theoretical and empirical understanding of occupational stress as well as the practical implications stemming from our research. Using a multi-level modelling (MLM) approach means explicitly taking into account the often hierarchical nature of our data structure (e.g. individuals working in groups, students in classrooms, children in families). Such a hierarchical dataset has traditionally posed three problems within an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression approach: (1) the units of analysis problem; (2) the violation of independent observations assumption problem; and (3) the heterogeneity of slopes problem. Let us consider each in turn. Most behavioural science models of stress acknowledge that a complete understanding of the structure and process of stress invariably requires a consideration of individual, group and environmental/situational characteristics (Sulsky & Smith, 2005). Such models originally arose from an awareness that purely biological models of stress fail to reliably predict which potential stressors will be perceived as stressful and how this process is infl uenced by personal and contextual factors. For example, the cognitive-transactional model of stress (Lazarus & Launier, 1978) posits that there are few, if any, universal stressors. Rather, the perception of and reactions to a potential stressor will vary within and across individuals and may differ over occasions and time. Whether the potential stressor is perceived to be stressful, therefore, intimately depends on characteristics of the individual (e.g. needs, abilities, personality) and the situation (e.g. demands, resources). As a result, most contemporary models of stress include some variation of a person-environment (P-E) fi t perspective [e.g. Karasek’s (1979) demands-control model; Hobfall’s (1989) Conservation of Resources theory; French and colleagues’ P-E fi t model, (French, Caplan, & Van Harrison, 1982, Van Harrison, 1978)]. Despite the fact that our models of stress explicitly consider individual and contextual factors, researchers often do not appropriately model these environmental and individual factors either in their research design, data collection or subsequent analyses. Thus, organiza-