Stress Among Medical Professionals

Abstract

The present study centres on a crucial aspect of life—stress among medical professionals. The objective was to explore differences in perceived stressors across three tiers of hospital staff: nurses, junior residents, and senior residents. Using purposive sampling, the study comprised of a total number of one hundred twenty hospital staff out of which there were forty nurses (female), forty junior residents (male) and forty senior residents (male) of King Georges Medical College, Lucknow from departments of medicines, surgery, orthopedics and pediatrics. Questionnaire developed by Davidson and Cooper (1992) was used to fulfil the objectives of the present study. Some of items which were not adequately worded for hospital employees were modified to suit the purpose. The obtained data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and one- way Analysis of Variance. Result suggested that senior residents did not identify any specific condition as the most stressful. However, junior residents and nurses reported high-stress factors such as time pressure and deadlines, supervising hospital staff, hospital politics, a poor work environment, and equipment failures. Conclusion: Stress levels tend to be higher among nursing assistants, conversely, stress is lower when individuals feel valued and appreciated.