[Training and information interventions aimed at stress control in the health care sector: potentialities and limits]

Training programs for health care workers aimed at controlling job-related stress (person-directed, person-work interface and organizational interventions) demonstrate only short-term effect in reducing stress levels. Medium-long-term results could be achieved only through well-articulated programs, which involve health administration managers and nursing staff in a solid and enduring prevention-centered approach. Informative interventions conducted in hospital for preventing job-related stress have a particularly good response rate among nurses and other members of medical support and technical staff. Physicians don't seem to respond to these interventions since they have more decision-making autonomy and develop reward mechanisms; for these reasons, they feel to have less need for training/support interventions. Finally, our results confirm the need for a more-active stress management policy in hospitals and other health care institutions.