Job Stress, Job Performance, and Social Support Among Hospital Nurses

PURPOSE: To investigate (a) the effect of job-related stress on job performance among hospital nurses, and (b) the effect of social support from coworkers on the stress-performance relationship. DESIGN: A correlational descriptive survey was used to investigate these relationships among a convenience sample of 263 American hospital nurses and 40 non-American nurses who were accessible via the Internet. METHODS: Data were collected using a Web-based structured questionnaire, which included the Nursing Stress Scale, the Schwirian Six Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance, the McCain and Marklin Social Integration Scale, and the demographic form. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlations, and hierarchical regression techniques were used to analyze the data. FINDINGS: Perceived social support from coworkers enhanced the level of reported job performance and decreased the level of reported job stress. The analysis also indicated a curvilinear (U-shaped) relationship between job stress and job performance; nurses who reported moderate levels of job stress believed that they performed their jobs less well than did those who reported low or high levels of job stress. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicted the importance of social support from coworkers, as well as the need for further research to test the U-shaped relationship between job stress and job performance.