Sources of Work Stress among Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Unit Nurses: Systematic Review

Abstract

Background Work stress among nurses is on the rise, and the negative consequences attached to it are also increasing. It is critical to identify the sources of work stress among nurses to facilitate the development and implementation of interventions. According to Dagget et al. (2016), an estimated 68% of nurses suffer from stress. This review focuses on identifying the sources of work stress among ICU and ER nurses and critically appraising the levels of prevalence of the different sources Objectives The review involved a comprehensive search of the literature, which was conducted on the CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature), PsycINFO, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases. The review focused on identifying the current available evidence concerning sources of work stress among ICU and ER nurses Method The review involved a comprehensive search of the literature, which was conducted on the CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature), PsycINFO, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases. The review focused on identifying the current available evidence concerning sources of work stress among ICU and ER nurses Result Twelve studies were identified that explored the sources of work stress among ICU and ER nurses. Following the review of the studies, the sources of stress were classified into six themes, namely demographic factors workplace conflict,patient-related stress, work-related personal issues, and technical-technological issues. The demographic factors that were identified as sources of stress included sex identity differences, marital status, age, and higher education level. A significant relationship was noted by the studies among the different demographic factors and levels of stress among ICU and ER nurses. The sources of work stress in the patient-related stress theme included dealing with patients, patients’ families, and the death of and dying patients the work-related sources of stress included time pressure, staff shortage, heavy workloads, the lack of support from supervisors, a poor working environment, poor professional communication, and work without physicians. The workplace conflict issues that were a source of stress included conflict with peers, conflict with physicians and supervisors, and discrimination and violence. The personal issues included a lack of confidence, a lack of recognition and motivation, and issues at home, while the technical and technological issues included a lack of competency in handling special equipment. Conclusion Several sources of work stress among ICU and ER nurses were identified and supported by other studies. Most of the sources identified were found to have a significant positive relationship with stress levels among the nurses. However, further research is needed, especially in the area of the sources of work stress among ER nurses. That is because of the limited number of studies focusing on ER nurses that could be identified and used in this systematic review