Job-Related Stress of Nurses Serving Cancer Patients in a Specialized Hospital during COVID-19 Pandemic

Work-life is crucial in human life. A person in a job faces many stimuli from internal and external environments and is thus affected by them positively or negatively [ Maslach et al., 2003]. Stress can be generated in the face of negative stimuli. In contrast, positive Stimuli, in general, make individuals happy. [ Maslach et al.,2001] Stress is an important part of life and necessary for coping with everyday challenges. Problems start to occur when the stress response is inappropriate to the size of the challenge. If not managed, stress levels result in high levels of employee stress dissatisfaction, illness, absenteeism, high turnover, decreased productivity, and, as a result, difficulty in providing quality service to clients. [Thomas et al., 2008] Nurses play a pivotal role in any health care institution and encompass the largest workforce of any health care institution; they act as direct caregivers who serve a hospital twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This gives nurses a unique perspective on both patient care and hospital operations [FDRE MOH et al.,2011]. Nursing is generally perceived as a demanding profession. Along with the increased demand and progress in the nursing profession, stress among nurses has also increased. The nursing profession follows a holistic approach, taking into account the person in totality in his or her environment. Nurses provide presence, comfort, help, and support for people confronted with loneliness, pain, incapacity, disease, and even death. The fact that nursing has been extensively and unfailingly recognized worldwide as a stressful job is, therefore, not surprising [Gulavani et al.,2014] Nurses, having an important role in the health care system, are considered to be members of a stressful job as a profession because they care for a stressful group comprising patients or those at health risk. The organizational structure of the health care system, improper working environment, critical patient care, working on a shift basis, and the process of becoming a professional can affect the level of stress in nurses. Therefore, it is suggested that nurses comprise the group that experiences the maximum stress among health professionals. [Stordeur et al.,2001]