Psychological distress and its association with job satisfaction among nurses in a teaching hospital

To determine the prevalence of psychological distress and its association with job satisfaction among nurses in a teaching hospital in Malaysia.

Nurses constitute the majority of health care workers, and, compared with other professions, nursing profession is highly stressful and, hence, a cause of anxiety and depression. This may affect nurses' job satisfaction.

Using self-administered questionnaires, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Job Satisfaction Scale for Nurses (JSS), a cross-sectional study of 932 nurses from the inpatient departments of a teaching hospital was conducted in December 2017. Descriptive analyses and multiple logistic regressions were used for the analysis. The STROBE guideline was used in this study.

The overall prevalence of psychological distress was 41%. The prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression were 14.4%, 39.3% and 18.8%, respectively. It was found that single and widowed nurses had a higher level of stress, anxiety and depression compared with married nurses. In addition, nurses in the age of 26-30 years had a higher level of depression than nurses in other age groups. Also, nurses who worked in the paediatric departments had a higher level of depression compared with nurses in other departments. The majority of the nurses were satisfied with their job at 92.0%. Those nurses who were not satisfied were found to be significantly associated with a high level of stress and depression.

This study revealed that the level of stress, anxiety and depression is high. Stress and depression were found to be associated with nurses' low job satisfaction.

Stress and depression can affect nurses' job satisfaction, it is important for nursing managers to institute strategies to address this issue.