Taking aim at nurse stress: a call to action

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Military Medicine
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Wartime presents unique stressors for healthcare professionals.
• Nurses in military settings face distinct occupational challenges.
• Understanding nurse well-being is critical for healthcare system resilience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate stress levels and behaviors of nurses in a military medical center during wartime.
• To identify sources of stress and assess self-care practices among these nurses.
• To evaluate the relationship between reported stress, sleep, and morale.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey was administered to 255 nurses (94% response rate) in a military medical center.
• Objective data on sleep patterns were collected using actigraphy in a subsample over 12 weeks.
• Data analysis included descriptive statistics to summarize stress, behaviors, and morale.

Main Results:

• 81% of nurses reported moderately high or high stress, primarily due to work (66%) and fatigue (39%).
• Nurses reported working an average of 13.6 days while ill or stressed over 3 months.
• Average sleep was 5.5 hours/night (self-reported) and 6.0 hours/night (actigraphy), with limited time for self-care (8.8 h/wk) and exercise (3.8 h/wk).
• Despite high stress, 71% reported high or moderately high morale.

Conclusions:

• A significant disconnect exists between perceived stress levels and nurses' ability to engage in self-care.
• Chronic stress impacts military nurses' well-being, potentially affecting their capacity for optimal patient care.
• Nurse leaders must implement systemic changes to promote a healthy work-life balance and support self-care among staff.