Nurse occupational stress research 5: sources and determinants of stress

Since successive pieces of research keep highlighting the same nurse stress determinants, it would appear that either those who are responsible for addressing the problems and finding solutions are ignoring the research findings or, if interventions are being implemented, they are not working.

Abstract

This article, the fifth in a six-part series, reviews the major sources and determinants of nurse stress. The reviewer identifies a wide range of stress determinants, including work overload, interpersonal relationship problems, role conflict and ambiguity, work vs home, resource shortages and pressure from patients, among others. He makes the point that since successive pieces of research keep highlighting the same nurse stress determinants, it would appear that either those who are responsible for addressing the problems and finding solutions are ignoring the research findings or, if interventions are being implemented, they are not working.