The Relationship between Stress and Professional Satisfaction Level of Nurses Working in Psychiatric Hospitals

Background: Occupational satisfaction and stress were receiving increasing attention worldwide; however, this important issue was neglected in our country where very scarce studies were conducted to highlight this problem which may impact the safety and quality healthcare of for patients with mental diseases in Iraq. Objectives: The main objective of the study investigates occupation satisfaction, also its relationship with stress among psychiatric nurses in specific mental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional and correlational study design comprising 203 nurses, using a self- administer questionnaire, and purposive sample technique was divided into three categories according to nurses distribution in these hospitals. Results: Women were outnumbered comprising (62.1%), scores for personal, work-related stress, and job satisfaction were fair. Lower levels of work satisfaction were shown to have a significant link ( r = ‐0.859, P : 0.01) with higher levels of stress. Conclusion: If the providers of care in mental hospitals strive for high quality, supportive and preventative interventions must be used to reduce the prevalence of stress among psychiatric nurses and increase nurses’ feelings about job satisfaction.