Level Of Stress And Associated Factors Among Nurses Working In Critical Care Unit In Public Sector Hospital Lahore Pakistan

Abstract

Background: The critical care unit in a hospital is a demanding and high-pressure environment where nurses often encounter complex medical cases, life-and-death situations, long working hours, and heavy workloads. So there was a need to find out the unique challenges faced by nurses in critical care units within this specific context.

Objective: To assess the level of stress and associated factors among nurses working in critical care units in tertiary care hospitals.

Methods: A quantitative study was done to collect data from nurses having sample size of 217 registered nurses from three selected hospitals in Pakistan (Services, Mayo hospital and Railway hospital).The nursing stress scale having close-ended questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed by using Chi-square test, frequency and percentage. 

Results: The majority of participants were female, 78.8% and about 58.1% were staff working specifically in the ICU/CCU. Stress levels were categorized in three different manners including low level, Moderate level and high level of stress. Out of 217, 174 (80.2% nurses who participated in the study show moderate level of stress. However, 27 (12.4%) and 16 (7.4%) nurses show high and low level of stress respectively.

Conclusion: All in all critical care units are the most stressful environment in the hospital setting. Nurses working in these departments have different level of stress which may be related to work, interpersonal relations and some other causative factors. To improve the clinical practices of the nurses, stress and stressors should be managed properly and timely.