Page 175 - Petelin, Ana, ur. 2024. Zdravje delovno aktivnih in starejših odraslih / Health of Working-Age and Older Adults. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press

Predictive factors affecting stress among nurses

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Maša Černelič Bizjak , Sara Fabjan , Petra Dolenc 2
1 University of Primorska Faculty of Health Sciences, Izola, Slovenia
2 University of Primorska, Faculty of Education, Koper, Slovenia
Introduction: Compared to other professions, healthcare workers usually face high
workloads and emotionally challenging situations which can result in poorer well-being
and mental health problems such as increased stress, anxiety, depression, and burn-
out. Nurses’ mental health is crucial due to its relevance to job satisfaction, job per-
formance, and the quality of patient care. The purpose of this study was to examine
perceived stress among nursing professionals and, more specifically, the role of psy-
chological well-being, social support, and self-rated health in predicting nurses’ stress.
Methods: Participants were 122 nurses, aged 20–39 years, and predominantly fe-
male (75%). They completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the World Health Or-
ganization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), the Perceived Social Support Questionnaire
(F-SozU), and the Self-Rated Health (SRH) measure. In addition, sociodemographic
data of participants was also collected.
Results: Female employees experienced greater stress than men (t = -2.08, p < 0.001),
while the employees’ age (r = -0.25, p = 0.006) and economic status (r = -0.26, p =
0.005) were negatively related to the perceived stress level. Moreover, stress was
negatively (low to moderately) correlated with psychological well-being (r = -0.59, p
< 0.001), social support (r = -0.36, p < 0.001), and self-rated health (r = -0.42, p < posterji | poster presentations
0.001). Among all the predictors included in the regression model, lower age, poorer
psychological well-being, and lower social support significantly predicted higher stress
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among employees (R = 0.47; F (7, 114) = 17.28; p < 0.001).
Discussion and conclusions: The results suggest that taking care of well-being and pro-
moting quality social relationships may have an important protective function in pre-
venting stress among nurses. Stress prevention training should be an essential com-
ponent of nursing education, and should include learning about balancing care for
patients with self-care practices (such as mindfulness, resilience, and constructive cop-
ing strategies).
Keywords: occupational stress, mental health, social support, healthcare

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