Occupational Stressors and Mental Health–Related Quality of Life Among Hospital Nurses in Northern Border Region Saudi Arabia: A Multi‐Site Cross‐Sectional Study

ABSTRACT Aim To examine the association between occupational stress and mental health–related quality of life (HRQoL) among nurses in the Northern Border Region of Saudi Arabia and to determine whether this relationship varies across professional and clinical subgroups. Design A cross‐sectional, correlational study. Methods A stratified sample of 257 registered nurses and nurse managers was recruited from three hospitals in the Northern Border of Saudi Arabia (53.2% female, 86.0% staff nurses and 44.0% with > 10 years of experience). Occupational stress was assessed using a culturally adapted and forward‐backward translated version of the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS), which measures seven stress domains. Mental HRQoL was evaluated using the Mental Component Summary (MCS) of the 12‐item Short Form Health Survey (SF‐12). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t ‐tests, one‐way analysis of variance with post hoc comparisons, Pearson correlations and four‐step hierarchical linear regression. Results The mean MCS score was 52.01 (SD = 8.12), slightly above the SF‐12 normative mean of 50. All seven occupational stress domains were significantly and negatively associated with MCS scores ( r = −0.22 to −0.33, all p < 0.001). Workload was the highest‐rated stressor ( M = 2.91, SD = 0.65), whereas nurse–physician conflict demonstrated the strongest inverse correlation with mental HRQoL ( r = −0.33). The final hierarchical regression model explained 34% of the variance in MCS scores ( R 2 = 0.34, adjusted R 2 = 0.30). Occupational stress domains contributed an additional 15% of explained variance beyond demographic and professional characteristics (Δ R 2 = 0.15, F ‐change [7, 244] = 7.85, p < 0.001). No significant interaction effects were identified. Patient or Public Contribution No Patient or Public Contribution.