Objectives

To analyse the presence of work-related stress in the nursing bureau of a University General Hospital taking as reference Karasek's demand-control-support model.

Methods

Cross-sectional observational study. The sample included 38 nursing professionals from the nursing bureau of a University General Hospital. Assessment tools: the Job Content Questionnaire (JQC), translated and validated for hospital nursing, was used to know the perception of nursing professionals concernins their work, and to determine the presence of any work-related stressors.

Results

The participation rate was 90.47% (N=38). The average for the social support dimension was 2.59±0.47, for the psychological demands of 3.26±0.47, and for control over their own work of 2.87±0.40. Data analysis pointed to a moderate level of stress, reflecting a deficit in the social support provided by superiors, particulary in the group of professionals assigned to nursery management (2.89 vs 2.49; p<0.05). None of the three dimensions showed a link of any kind with socio-occupational variables of gender, age, shift, assignment or type of connection to the hospital.

Conclusion

Improvement is needed in this area on the part of human resources management in order to lessen the effect of work-related stress, psychological demands and lack of control over these.

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