Assessment of Occupational Stress Levels among Nurses in Maiwand and Ali Abad Teaching Hospitals, Kabul Afghanistan (2022)

Abstract

Background and Objective: Stress is an unavoidable part of life; however, when it becomes severe or persistent, or when adequate support resources are lacking, it can lead to physical illnesses and psychological disorders. Nurses, due to the nature of their work-including 24-hour patient care, complex teamwork, and frequent exposure to patients’ suffering and death, are more likely to experience occupational stress. This study was conducted to determine the level of occupational stress among nurses in Maiwand and Ali Abad Teaching Hospitals. Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 1401 (2022) on 180 nurses using a census sampling method. Data were collected using the standard Gray-Toft and Anderson questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive statistics using SPSS version 26. In total, 158 valid questionnaires were included in the analysis. Findings/Result: The results showed that 19% of nurses had low stress, 65.2% had moderate stress, and 15.8% experienced high stress. The most common stressors included patients’ suffering and death, conflicts with physicians, and feelings of inadequate preparedness. The highest stress levels were observed in the emergency department, emergency surgery, and orthopedic surgery wards. Younger, less experienced nurses, as well as single nurses and young married nurses, reported the highest levels of occupational stress. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the level of occupational stress among nurses is considerable, younger and newly nurses are more vulnerable than others. Utilizing experienced nurses alongside less experienced nurses, as well as maintaining an appropriate balance between single and married nurses, may help reduce occupational stress and improve the quality of patient care.