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Occupational stress in neurosurgical nursing
Intensive & Critical Care Nursing
|September 1, 1993
Summary
Neurosurgical nurses face significant occupational stress from critical events and resource shortages. These intense situations, though infrequent, negatively impact their work performance.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Occupational Health
- Intensive Care
Background:
- Occupational stress in nursing is widely studied.
- Neurosurgical intensive care units (ICUs) remain under-researched regarding nursing stress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore stressors perceived by neurosurgical nursing staff.
- To identify the frequency and impact of these stressors on work performance.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative exploratory study.
- Interviews with neurosurgical nursing staff.
Main Results:
- Major stressors include life-and-death situations (especially involving children), resource scarcity, understaffing, and aggressive relatives.
- Common stressors include unsocial hours, resource shortages, adult critical events, and workload fluctuations.
- Exposure to critical events and resource shortages most significantly affect work.
Conclusions:
- Intensely stressful events occur in neurosurgical ICUs.
- While not frequent, these events adversely affect staff work performance.
- No unique neurosurgery-specific stressors were identified, but overall stress is high.