Examining the Levels of Work Related Stress among Students Nurses
Nurses practicing within the hospital settings in developed and developing
countries experience work related stress (Baethge & Rigotti, 2013). Work-related
stress in hospital settings is considered to be the product of an imbalance between
environmental demands and individual capabilities. According to Smith (2014),
occupational stressors may result in psychological, physical and behavioral stress
reactions, such as burnout, depression and psychosomatic diseases (Smith, Gillespie,
Brown, & Grubb, 2016). The link between unmanaged work related stress and its
negative impact on health and well-being is well demonstrated in work related stress
research and is linked to severe physical consequences, some of which may be fatal
(Malta, 2014). According to Sheard, Huntington and Gilmour (2014), work related
stress could also lead to drug abuse and especially alcoholism affecting organizational
commitment of employees. Low organizational commitment could be interpreted as
an escape from, compensation for, or protest against occupational stressors, which
could result in absenteeism (Servodidio, 2011).
Globally, need for Alcohol use among students nurses in training during their
practicum is the influence of friends and submission to peer pressure, environmental
force over the student and denial that drinking leads to severe consequences and
drinking related problems (Wechsler & Isaac, 2014). Many students’ nurses partake in
binge drinking to be socially accepted in a group. Other student’s nurses find it
difficult to make the choice to be the sober outsider. The desire to be social enhances
the willingness to binge drink. Unfortunately, the vast majority of student’s nurses are
unaware that their need to fit in with friends and inability to make individual
decisions leads to dangerous drinking habits.
In the U.S, student’s nurses in internships experience high workload (Rudman
& Gustavsson, 2011). Lowering work related stress will also contribute to a better
physician-patient relationship. Malta (2014) recognizes that stressors may induce
higher level of stress and anxiety and affect quality of health provision to patient.
Further research involves a large period, in which the students nurses assume
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responsibility and consequently have to cope with the pressure of work expected in the
internship period, lack of leisure time and work relationships.
The different studies such as Odek-Ogunde and Pande-Leak (2012) support an
inverse association between anxiety and performance in their internships in the hospitals.
They further indicated that students nurses experienced increased symptoms of
depression and anxiety, associated with high levels of stress, which can lead to
disruptions in both physical and mental health and may diminish the student’s nurses
sense of worth, thus affecting his/her academic performance. When team members
interact in co-located settings, shared visual fields allow more fluid and efficient
information exchange.
Factors Influencing Work Related Stress aand Alcohol aamong Students Nurses.
Workplace factors that have been found to be associated with stress and health
risks can be categorized as those to do with the content of work and those to do with the
social and organizational context of work. Thus the key factor behind work related stress
is a person’s perception of the reality and not necessarily, the actual situation. Source or
stressor is an element that causes a stress reaction. Research in behavioral psychology has
shown that stress can be good or be a threat to the person depending on the level of stress
perceived. According to Thurman (2015) work related stress is due to organizational
aspects, long work hours, lack of organizational support and organizational change, lack
of support from supervisors and colleagues, and conflict with demands and pressures.
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