STRESS AT WORK AS A HEALTH RISK FACTOR FROM THE OPINION OF PROFESSIONALLY ACTIVE NURSES

Background
Medical workers, especially nurses, are susceptible to numerous stressful situations, due to the great demands which are a result of the specifics of working with an ill person. The aim of the study was to identify stress factors in nursing work, without taking into account the place of employment (i.e., wards).

Material and methods
The study group was made up of a sample of 102 nurses, 15 male and 87 female. The diagnostic poll method and the interview technique were used, and a designed questionnaire was used as the research tool. During statistical analysis, a non-parametric χ² test was used (p<0.05). Additionally, the strength of the examined relationships was determined (rp).

Results
Work was the main source of stress (44.1%) for the participants. Of the nurses, 39.2% often felt stressed at work, whereas emotional tension was present in 25.5% of the participants constantly. Nearly half felt burdened by everyday tasks at work, while talking about the problem (55.9%) and physical activity (37.3%), including walks (19.6%), were the most frequently used forms of fighting stress. Significant relationships were found between the level of stress and the marital status and place of residence of the participants.

Conclusions
Some nurses assessed the stress that accompanied them at work as being high and over half of them felt it was an average level of stress. Stress was the most often mentioned detriment-to-health factor in the opinions of the participants.