Understanding stress in the operating room: a step toward improving the work environment

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Management
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Job-related stress significantly impacts nursing staff satisfaction and turnover, especially in operating room settings.
• Understanding workplace stressors is crucial for retaining skilled operating room personnel.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the perceived stress levels from perioperative events.
• To determine the frequency of these stressful events.
• To analyze the impact of these events on operating room nurses (ORNs) and operating room technologists (ORTs).

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Survey on Stress in the OR instrument.
• Ensured high internal consistency of survey items.
• Collected data from ORNs and ORTs regarding perceived stress and event frequency.

Main Results:

• ORNs and ORTs reported similar perceptions of high and low impact stressful events.
• Both groups identified "pressure to work more quickly" as the most impactful stressor.
• The survey instrument demonstrated high reliability.

Conclusions:

• Operating room administrators can use these findings to redesign the environment.
• Minimizing the impact of key stressors can enhance job satisfaction.
• Strategies to reduce stress may effectively decrease nursing staff turnover.