Stress related work environment factors: Nurses survey results

Introduction: The nursing profession is one of the most stressful occupations today, due to the quantity and diversity of risk factors associated with the work environment. The common contributory factors include higher nurse workloads and characteristics of the work environment such as administrative support, nurse-physician relationships, and support services. Clinical supervision enables nurses to discuss patient care in a safe, supportive environment and may lead to lower levels of burnout for emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore stress related work environment factors in practicing nurses in Latvia, and to find out nurses opinions about clinical supervision. Method: Demographic questionnaire and survey about environmental factors in nurses, as well as nurses opinions about clinical supervision necessity for nurses, were the instruments used for data collection. The nurses were asked to choose 10 factors from 20 and rank them from 1 to 10, where the most significant was 10. Results: The participants of the study were 241 nurses from several hospitals and outpatient care institutions in Latvia. All participants were women, age range-from 21 till 59 years. The most frequently marked factor in nurses' surveys was risk of infection, 220 nurses in total chose this factor and 101 (41,9%) ranked it like the most important of all proposed. Frequently marked factors also were Inadequate remuneration for work (217 marked, 22,4% ranked with 10), Emotionally intensive work with people (179 marked, 7,9% ranked with 10). More than a half (59,8%) of participating nurses never heard about supervisions, 95,5% did not attend supervisions for nurses in past 5 years. Conclusion: During a study the main stress-related factors were indentified. The most frequently marked factors in nurses' surveys were risk of infection, inadequate remuneration for work and emotionally intensive work with people. Most of nurses participating in this study considered that the practicing nurses need the supervisions.