Comparing the effects of stress and relationship style on student and practicing nurse anesthetists

Stress in the workplace can be extremely detrimental. It has been estimated that stress-related outcomes cost organizations $50 billion to $75 billion per year. These costs are realized in the form of decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and increased job turnover. Excessive stress in the healthcare professional can lead to burnout. A purpose of the present study was to compare and contrast stress levels between practicing nurse anesthetists and those in training. The study also sought to determine if communication was adversely affected by stress and by the style nurse anesthetists chose in relating to others. Style can be defined as any identifiable pattern of relating to others one follows to reach one's goals. Sixty-six student nurse anesthetists and 15 practicing nurse anesthetists participated in the study for a total of 81 participants. All participants were administered the Occupational Stress Inventory, the Strength Deployment Inventory, and the Interpersonal Communication Inventory. Significant findings included: (1) second-year students experienced the greatest amount of stress, (2) practicing nurse anesthetists have more coping resources than student nurse anesthetists, (3) of the 4 relationship styles available, the altruistic/nurturing and the analytic/autonomizing are the styles of relating to others used most often by student and practicing nurse anesthetists, (4) nurse anesthetists with high stress levels communicated less effectively than nurse anesthetists with low stress levels, and (5) nurse anesthetists communicated less effectively when using the altruistic/nurturing style compared with the analytic/autonomizing style.