The measured intensity of work-related stressors in pediatric oncology nursing

The purpose of this descriptive study was to measure the rated intensity of work-related stressors experienced by pediatric oncology nurses and to examine the reliability of a new instrument. The Stressor Scale for Pediatric Oncology Nurses (SSPON), a 50-item visual analogue instrument, was used to measure the intensity of those work-related stressors. A national sample (n = 92) of randomly selected members of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Nurses participated. Although most subjects had 2 or more years of pediatric oncology nursing experience (92%), the majority had greater than 5 years of experience (52%). Median scores on the SSPON indicated that the nurses sampled experienced a moderately high level of work stress. Scale items rated most stressful were "watching a patient suffer and not be able to do anything about it," "when a favorite patient dies," and "making mistakes." Scale items rated least stressful were "when patients die at home rather than here at the hospital with us," "not feeling comfortable with my skills," and "when I can't answer a question about my patient." A comparison of total scale scores, using a t-test for independent samples, indicated that nurses with less than 5 years of pediatric oncology experience (n = 44) did not differ significantly from nurses with greater than 5 years of pediatric oncology experience (n = 48; t = 1.30, P = .199), in relation to intensity of work-related stress. Reliability was estimated using coefficient alpha. The total scale SSPON was found to be internally consistent (coefficient alpha = 0.93).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)