Work Stress, Essay Example

The authors investigated the stress trends among female nursing professionals and the factors that contribute towards work-related stress. The authors believe that the organizations should take steps to reduce stress at work not only because it is the right thing to do but also because there are economic benefits due to more productive workforce. The factors that have been identified as contributing towards work-related stress include long work hours, time pressure, little room for error, and enclosed environment. In addition, stress among female nursing professionals is also due to depressing moments such as witnessing dying patients (Jehangir, Kareem and Khan).

Even though Dr. Hans Selye was the first person to study work-related stress about a half-century ago, the issue has attracted widespread attraction among academics and corporations only recently. Work-related stress has become a serious cause of concern because numerous studies have found alarming rates of stress among workers. The health and safety executive in Britain reported that over half a million workers claim to be becoming ill due to work-related stress while a study by Personnel Today and IRS Employment review found that 40 percent of employees reported an increase in stress over the last year. The researchers have found that some stress is desirable because it leads to improved work performance. The optimal level of stress lies in between low and high stress levels and work performance starts deteriorating once the stress level has exceeded the optimal level of stress (Jehangir, Kareem and Khan).

The study by the authors found that the leading causes of stress among female nursing professionals include excessive workload (97.1%), unhealthy and dangerous work environment (92.4%), insufficient resources (93.3%), people’s sufferings (80.3%), conflicting demands (73.3%), lack of professional respect (84.8%), lack of promotion chances (85.1%), and inadequate pay and benefits (90.2%). The female nurses also reported negative relationship between stress and job performance as well as negative relationship between stress and job satisfaction. Top three factors cited by the female nurses that result in lower job performance include excessive workload (96.8%), insufficient resources (92.4%), and unhealthy and dangerous work environment (84.1%). Similarly, top three factors mentioned by the female nurses that result in lower job satisfaction include excessive workload (97.1%), unhealthy and dangerous work environment (94.3%), and inadequate pay and work benefits (90.8%) (Jehangir, Kareem and Khan).

The data for the purpose of the research study was collected through questionnaires that were sent to female nurses of three major public sector hospitals in Peshawar, Pakistan. The sample size was 500 female nurses and 315 questionnaires formed the basis of data analysis. The nurses that were part of the sample collectively covered all of the working shifts in a day and came from various age groups, service cadre, background, family status, and education status. The collected data was tested for normality and correlation analysis was carried out to find a potential relation between stress and job performance as well as between stress and job satisfaction. This was the first study of its kind ever conducted in Pakistan (Jehangir, Kareem and Khan).

The study confirms that there is indeed negative relationship between stress and job performance as well as between stress and job dissatisfaction. The authors also found that the stress among female nursing professionals is especially higher in the public sector. This is why the authors suggest that hospitals take measures to reduce stress and deal with workers’ complaints on a priority basis.

Reference

Jehangir, Muhammad, et al. “Effects of job stress on job performance & job.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business November 2011: 453-466.