An exploration into occupational stress experienced by HIV health care professionals who work within genitourinary medicine settings

The present study investigates the occupational stress of health care workers involved with HIV care in genitourinary medicine (GUM) outpatient departments. Sixteen nursing and 14 medical staff completed the P. Gray-Toft and J. G. Anderson (1981) occupational stress inventory. This assesses 7 potential sources of stress (death and dying, uncertainty regarding treatment, inadequate preparation, lack of support, conflict with others, conflict with physicians, and workload). The mean scores obtained revealed a preponderance of low-stress scores for both medical and nursing staff. Analyses of variance and covariance further demonstrated that, in general, levels of stress did not differ within or between the occupational groups. However, sources and characteristics of stress were different between nurses and doctors. In this group of health care professionals, their work with HIV-positive patients within the GUM outpatient setting may be instrumental in limiting levels of stress.