Are We Ignoring the Hardship of Nurses: Occupational Stress Experienced by Nurses, a Mixed-method Enquiry from India

Nursing is identified as the stressful profession. Studies identified that organizational, professional, and personal factors are considered quantitative stress sources. However, qualitative enquiry on job stressors among nurses is limited and less explored.

A mixed-method approach was adopted with sequential-explanatory design. The first phase used cross-sectional design among 200 nurses, and the second phase used qualitative exploratory design to describe the job stressors among twelve nurses selected using the maximum variant sampling technique. The tools were the Nursing Stress Scale and a semi-structured interview guide for the individual face-to-face interview. The data was analyzed using R software and NVivo-12 software for quantitative and qualitative data, respectively.

The mean scores on perceived job stress were 33.6 ± 16.9. Thematic analysis found nurses' job stressors under "Exposures" and "Energizers." The sub-themes under "Exposures" include blame and abuse, hierarchical conflict, workplace safety, resource scarcity, and distress. The theme "Energizers" describes nurses' reaction towards environmental stressors to resolve and manage the situation, including self-motivation, determined spirit, and psycho-somatic effects.

As nurses try to do their best amidst stressors, it raises a call for organizational support and a need for institutional and government input in improving manpower, resource management at work, and managerial support for mitigating harassment, lack of safety, and distress is projected in this study. Although many such issues have been identified earlier, the present study has brought to the forefront what nurses experience through their accounts, which need immediate attention from the stakeholders.