Workload Status and Its Relationship with Job Stress in Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Ali Reza Yusefi Assistant Professor of Health Services Management, Department of Public Health, School of Health, Jiroft University of Medical Science, Jiroft, Iran
  • Parnian Nikmanesh PhD candidate, Department of Health Services Management, School of Management and Medical Information, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Shima Bordbar PhD candidate of Health Services Management, Department of Health Services Management, School of Management and Medical Information, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
  • Mohammad Khammarnia Assistant Professor of Health Services Management, Health Promotion Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
  • Zahra Kavosi Professor of Health Services Management, Health Human Resources Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Keywords: Workload; Job Stress; Nurses; COVID-19

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Currently, the high prevalence of COVID-19 and increased workload in hospitals has posed a threat to the physical, mental, and emotional health of nurses. The present study was an attempt to investigate the workload and its relationship with job stress of nurses in COVID-19 reference hospitals in southern Iran.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 on 431 nurses from COVID-19 reference hospitals in southern Iran. Data collection tools included the NASA workload and OSIPOW job stress standard questionnaires. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS23 Software and at a significance level of 0.05

Results: The mean age and work experience of the nurses participating in the study were 31.03±5.23 and 6.42±4.61, respectively. The mean scores of the workload and job stresses were 83.64 ± 17.24 (of 100) and 236.68 ± 16.54 (of 300), respectively. Mental load dimension (85.81 ±19.31, of 100) among workload dimensions and role workload dimension (43.62 ± 19.14, of 50) among job stress dimensions had the highest mean score. Thus, there was found a statistically significant relationship between workload and job stress of nurses (P= 0.04, r= 0.19).

Conclusion: Workload and job stress of the studied nurses were estimated at a high level. There was a significant positive correlation between these two variables, and increasing workload resulted in an increase in job stress.

Published
2022-01-03
Section
Articles