Comparing occupational Stress in nurses of intensive and nonintensive care units of hospitals of abbottabad city of Pakistan

Introduction: In both critical and non-critical care units, occupational stress is a common clinical condition that affects nurses' quality of life and patient care. Aim: The purpose of this comparative cross-sectional study was to determine the degree of occupational stress and work-related stressors among ICU and nonICU nurses working at Abbottabad hospitals. Methods: A sample of 150 ICU and 150 non-ICU nurses was recruited though a convenient sampling technique. Standardized questionnaire consisting of demographic information and the Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS) was administered to collect data from the study population. The level of stress and statistics for each stress factor were calculated using SPSS and MS Excel software. Results: Out of a total of 300 nurses, a severe level of occupational stress on ENSS was reported by 100%(150) ICU nurses and 68.7%(103) Non-ICU nurses. The average score on ENSS for ICU nurses was calculated as 89.92±9.23 and for non-ICU nurses as 77.84±14.82. “Having to do non-nursing tasks” was the most reported stress factor by ICU and non-ICU nurses, with averages of 3.55±0.86 and 3.39±1.38 Non-parametric test value of 0.000 < p value =.05 showed that a significant difference prevailed between the levels of stress in both ICU and non-ICU nurses’ groups [(Mean rank ICU)=185.3 > (Mean Rank non-ICU)=115.67]. Conclusion: Occupational stress was highly prevalent in nurses and affected ICU nurses more than non-ICU nurses, as all ICU nurses and the majority of non-ICU nurses were experiencing a severe level of occupational stress.