Job Stress and Mental Health Among Nursing Staff of Educational Hospitals in South East Iran

Background: Job stress is highly emphasized among healthcare staff because of their crucial role in the healthcare system. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate job stress and mental health among nursing staff of educational hospitals. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 124 nurses working in educational hospitals of Zahedan, Iran, from November 2015 to April 2016. Data were collected using Osipow job stress (60 questions in 6 subscales) and Goldberg’s general health (28 questions in 4 subscales) Questionnaires, both of which are valid and reliable. The data were presented as mean and standard deviation and analyzed through t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation tests using SPSS Version 16.0. The significance level was accepted as p less than 0.05. Results: The mean score of job stress in the nurses was 202.64 ± 22.88. Ambiguity in job was the most important factor affecting the nurses’ job stress. The mean score of mental health was 32.41 ± 2.37 for females and 29.36 ± 1.25 for males. Physical disorders had the highest mean among other factors in mental health, and it was 37.24 ± 3.21. There were significant statistic differences between job stress and gender, hospital ward, and working shift of the participants. In addition, a significant difference was obtained between mental health and hospital ward and nurse’s working environment. Conclusions: Job stress can affect all dimensions of nurses’ mental health and may lead to different disorders, particularly somatic and anxiety disorders. It seems that by planning to reduce job stressors (such as workload, and role ambiguity), improving workplace conditions, and implementing training courses to adapt to and control the stressful conditions, we can reduce job stress and improve nurses’ mental health.