Occupational stress and work ability among nurses in an academic hospital

Background: Occupational stress is one of the key factors in reducing staff productivity in any organization with physical and psychological impacts on employees. Nursing is among the most stressful professions. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the extent of perceived level occupational stress and its association with work-related and non-work related variables as causes of stress and work ability among nurses in a Public Medical College Hospital. Methods: A cross sectional study was done among nurses in Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital (ShSMCH) dmi.ng July 2015-June 2016 among 197 nurses, selected through a simple random sampling. Face to face interview was conducted, using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Occupational stress and work ability were measured using Expanded Nurses Stress Scale Questionnaire (ENSS) and WorkAbility Index Questionnaire (WAIQ). Appropriate statistical analysis was performed to see the level of significance. Results: Majority (69.0%) of the study population were between the age of 21 to 39 years, 94.gG/o were female, 68.0% were married, 79.2% were Muslim, 84.3% had diploma, 91.4% fumily income were equal or more than Tk 40,000, 95.5% did clinical work. Some 25.0% worked in medicine ward, 22.8% worked at surgery ward and 90.9% worked more or less than 50 hours per week. Only 5.1% found to be high stress and 94.6% low stress. Significant difference was found between female and male, occupational stress and religion, educational status, type of work, occupational stress and work ability (p<.0.05). Conclusion: Severe occupational stress is associated with reduced work ability. So, it is recommended to decrease occupational stress to increase work ability, although identification of sources of occupational stress seems necessary in order to adopt appropriate stress management strategies. Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2018; 44: 113-117