Occupational Stress Among Nursing Staff Working at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Snapshot of Rural Medical College of West Bengal, India

A bstract Background: A healthy professional environment is an utmost desire for the holistic well-being of a person. Occupational stress is a risk factor for various physical and mental illnesses. Nursing is a stressful occupation due to its nature. Objectives: To measure occupational stress among the nursing staff of a rural tertiary care hospital using the modified Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS) and find out the determinants of occupational stress among them. Materials and Methods: A hospital- based survey had been conducted on 186 nursing staff of Bankura Sammilani Medical College using the modified ENSS. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Collected data were entered in MS Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using SPSS 22 version. Results: Among the nursing staff, 53% had mild stress, 41% moderate, and 6% severe stress. Among the nursing staff working in the pediatric ward, 85.2% were suffering from moderate-to-severe stress, which is highest among all other working places of this hospital. Bivariate analysis revealed that residence, designation, working place, night duties, SES, having children, and support at home are the determinants of moderate to severe degree of occupational stress among the nursing staff (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed a significant relationship between occupational stress of nursing staff with residence, working place, and support at home (p < 0.05) while considering the effect of various confounders. Conclusion: More nursing staff of rural background, training before posting to specialty wards and counseling sessions to manage home and workplace, are required to lessen the occupational stress among the nursing staff of rural hospitals.