Stress Levels of Nurses in Oncology Outpatient Units
Abstract
The purpose of the research was to identify stress levels of outpatient oncology nurses, to investigate stressful factors of nurses at the workplace, to identify differences in stress levels among nurses’ demographic characteristics, and to explore coping behaviors for occupational stress of nurses. Study participants (n=40) included registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who completed the Nursing Stress Scale, three open-ended questions, and demographic questionnaire. Three different levels of stress were identified: 45% (n=18) were considered as ‘no stress or less stressed,’ 52.5% (n=21) were regarded as ‘moderately stressed,’ 2.5% (n=1) were considered as ‘highly stressed.’ The highest sources of stress were the factors of work load and patient death and dying. There were significant differences in stress levels among the demographic characteristics of age (p-value=0.0411) and nursing work experience (p-value=0.0412). The three most frequently used coping behaviors were verbalizing, exercising/relaxing, and taking time for self.