Nurses' Work-Related Stress in China: A Comparison Between Psychiatric and General Hospitals.

WORK environment & psychology; HEALTH facilities; PSYCHIATRIC hospitals; CHI-squared test; JOB stress; RESEARCH methodology; PSYCHOLOGY of nurses; REGRESSION analysis; RESEARCH funding; STATISTICAL sampling; SELF-evaluation; T-test (Statistics); U-statistics; WOMEN'S health; CROSS-sectional method; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; PSYCHOLOGY

Purpose Little is known about the level of work-related stress in nurses in China. This study compared the level of work-related stress between female nurses working in psychiatric and general hospitals in China. Design and Methods A descriptive comparative cross-sectional design was used. A consecutive sample of nurses from two psychiatric hospitals ( N = 297) and a medical unit ( N = 408) of a general hospital completed a written survey including socio-demographic data and a measure of work-related stress ( Nurse Stress Inventory). Findings Compared to the nurses working in the general hospital, those working in the psychiatric setting had a higher level of stress in the domains of working environment and resources ( p < .001) and patient care ( p < .001), but lower workload and time ( p < .001). Multivariate analyses revealed that college or higher level of education (β = .1, p < .001), exposure to violence in the past 6 months (β = .2, p < .001), longer working experience, and working in psychiatric hospitals were associated with high work-related stress (β = .2, p < .001). Practice Implications Considering the harmful effects of work-related stress, specific stress management workshops and effective staff supportive initiatives for Chinese nurses are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Perspectives in Psychiatric Care is the property of Hindawi Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)