EVALUATE THE CAUSES OF STRESS AMONG NURSES WORKING IN IN CRITICAL AREA AT ALLAMA IQBAL MEMORIAL TEACHING HOSPITAL SIALKOT

Background: Nursing is widely known as a stressful profession but intensive care unit is the most stressful; when nurses fail to cope with workplace, stresses’ complications such as burnout and depression ensue, and this can compromise the quality of nursing care. Objective: To evaluate causes of stress among nurses working in intensive care unit of a public sector hospital, Sialkot. Methodology: This is descriptive exploratory study conducted for the period of 6 weeks in which participants were recruited via random sampling technique. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from study participants. Results: Total 15 study participants having age range 20 years to 60 years recruited for this research work. To sum up causes of stress among 15 ICU nurses, 26.67% (n=4) respondents said lack of knowledge about operating special equipment; 20% (n=3) said excess workload; 13.33% (n=2) shortage of staff, prolonged shifts and lack of cooperation among nurses whereas 6.67% (n=1) said improper communication between doctors and nurses and lack of resources and availability of equipment (Ventilators etc.) were the prime causes of stress they had to face during working in their respective ICUs. Conclusion: Hence, it can be concluded from current study result findings that nurses working in Intensive Care Units are facing numerous sources of stress and prime causes were lack of knowledge about operating special equipment, excess workload, shortage of staff, prolonged shifts, lack of cooperation among nurses, improper communication between doctors and nurses and also lack of resources and availability of equipment (ventilators, etc). Keywords: Stress; Intensive Care Unit; Nurses; Causes; Sources