A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT OF NURSES WORKING IN GOVERNMENT HEADQUATERS HOSPITAL, DINDIGUL Ms.S. Lakshmi Prabha, Mrs.I.Shameem Banu 2, Mrs.S.Shyamala Gowri Department of Commerce,Annai Fathima College of Arts and Science,Madurai(India) 2 Department of Commerce,Annai Fathima College of Arts and Science,Madurai(India) Department of Management Studies,Annai Fathima College of Arts and Science,Madurai(India) ABSTRACT Stress has become significant due to dynamic social factor and changing needs of life styles. Stress is man s adaptive reaction to an outward situation which would lead to physical, mental and behavioral changes. Stress is both positive and negative stressors. It can help to cope with life challenges. The study mainly focuses on staff nurses in Dindigul Government Hospital. The nurses suffer from stress on some level. It mainly based on empirical study. The samples include nurses from Dindigul Government Hospital. The research instruments are questionnaire method. This research focuses on stress perception stressful experiences and stress management in work life of nurses. The learning strategies required to manage stressful situations in order to improve their performance Keywords : Behavioral changes, Nurses, Situations, Stress,Stress Management. I. INTRODUCTION Employees stress is a growing concern for organizations today. Stress can be defined as a lively circumstance in which people face constraints, opportunities, or loss of something they desire and for which the consequence is both unpredictable as well as crucial. Stress is the response of people to the unreasonable/excessive pressure or demands placed on them. Stress is not always negative. It may also bring out the best in individuals at times. It may induce an individual to discover innovative and smarter way of doing things. This positive dimension of stress is called as enstress. But usually, the term stress has a negative implication and this negative aspect of stress is termed as distress. For instance - When a subordinate is harassed or warned by his superior, unhappiness of unsuitable job, etc. We can say that Stress causes some people to break, and other to break records.. Stress faced by Nurses Understaffing, Role conflict and ambiguity,thoughts about family and children at home, Inadequate resources, Working in unfamiliar areas, Monitoring of Intensive care patients, Excessive noise, Lack of control, Lack of administrative rewards, Multi-tasking, Under-utilization of talents and abilities, Rotating shift work, Exposure to toxic substances, Exposure to infectious patients, Lack of performance appraisal 66 P a g e
Stress experienced by the employees in their job has negative impact on their health, performance and their behaviour in the organization. Thus, stress needs to be managed effectively so as to set off these harmful consequences. II. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The Nurses are the persons who assist the doctors for the diagnosis of disease or any inconvenience caused to people and help recover from it as guided by the physician. When we think over the satisfaction and convenience on job role of nurses, there will be many questions raised about their stress, service timing, shifts, routines, personal life satisfaction etc.,. Therefore this study is undertaken to measure the stress level encountered by the nurse who work under night shift and to ensure the rectification of their stress in future. Managing their stress is most necessary to have a fulfilled service from them. III. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM There are many fields in which employees work for 8 hours but round the clock in shifts. While checking the major and important fields, medical facility is one of the significant needs for the people. To avail 24 hour services, hospitals will have shifts based Doctors and nurses. The treatments and drugs for the patients will be prescribed by doctors while the care of the patients over night shall be accomplished by nurses. To have a satisfied medical service, the hospitals must have all the facilities prepared. Lack of facilities, result in bad service to patients and in turn creates stress to the nurses. This made the researcher to study the level of stress experienced by the nurses working in the Government Head Quarters Hospital. IV. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Kaldas, Warr (99) in their study on Influence of Occupational Stress upon Nurses Self-Esteem From a group of 22 Nurse in Government Hospitals more than 75 per cent of Nurse in the age group of between 2 and 24 reported that the strategies of behaviour management left them with negative feelings of professional selfesteem on the question of work load, more than 75 per cent of Nurse between 4 and 9 years of experience reported negative feeling of professional self-esteem and in the same group 66 per cent reported negative feeling of professional competence in relation to the pressure of time management. Lim V.K.G and Hians T.T.S (99) conducted a study to Identify Key Factors At the work place which Generate Stress Among Information Personnel in Singapore. Lack of career development, work overload, risktaking and decision-making, and employee morale and organizational culture were identified as broad categories of stressors. Vander pompe and Hepus (998) Work Stress Social Support and Strains among Male and Female Managers, revealed that there was no significant different among male and female managers regarding the stress. Both work and life support were negatively correlated with work stress. V. SCOPE OF THE STUDY There are several hospitals in and around the Dindigul city. The nurses are working in both government and private hospitals. The scope of the study is restricted to the nurses working in the Government Headquarters 67 P a g e
Hospital, Dindigul. The employees of the Government Headquarters Hospitals, other than the nurses and the nurses working in other Government Hospital are considered to be beyond the scope the study. VI. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The overall objective of the study is to study the stress faced by the nurses in Government Headquarters Hospital, Dindigul city. The specific objectives are: a. To study the Socio Economic Conditions of the nurses. b. To study the various factors creating stress for the nurses. c. To study the opinion of nurse on the factors creating stress. d. To focus on the area where the nurses lack their control. e. To offer suggestions based on the findings of the study. VII.SAMPLING DESIGN The researcher has adopted census method for the collection of data. In total only 92 nurses are working in the Government Headquarters Hospital, Dindigul. As the universe is small, the researcher has adopted census method. VIII. FIGURES AND TABLES TABLE - SOCIO ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE NURSES Age of the Age No. of Percentage Young 2 2.7 Middle 87 94.57 Aged.26 Marital Status of the Marital Status No. of Percentage Married 89 96.74 Single.26 Education Level of the Education No. of Percentage SSLC with Nursing.9 HSc with Nursing 88 95.65 68 P a g e
Degree with Nursing.26 Designation of the Designation No. of Percentage Head Nurse.9 Senior Staff Nurse 8 8.69 Staff Nurse 8 9.22 Family Size of the Family Size No. of Percentage Up to members 4. 4 to 6 members 79 85.87 Monthly Income of the Monthly Income No. of Percentage Up to Rs. 4 4.5 Above Rs. 2 88 95.65 Nature of the job of the Nature of Job No. of Percentage Permanent 88 95.65 Temporary 4 4.5 Source : Primary Data TABLE- 2 DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS ON THE BASIS OF LEVELS OF STRESS Sl. No. Level of Stress No. of Percentage Low 4. 2 Medium 64 69.6 High 5 6. Source: Primary data 69 P a g e
It is inferred from the above table that nearly 7% of the respondents have only medium level of stress. Only about 4% of the respondents are having low stress. It is to be noted that more than 6% of the respondents have high stress. TABLE - AGE AND STRESS ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE Source Degrees of Freedom Sum of Squares Mean Square F Value Significance Between Groups Within Groups 2 7.25 5.626.5.62 89 26825.747.4 Total 9 27. Source: Primary data Table discloses that the average stress of each age group was found to be statistically significant. Therefore the difference in the averages between the groups is significant. Table 4.4 reveals the relationship between the Age and Stress. TABLE -4 MARTIAL STATUS AND STRESS-TWO-WAYTABLE Level of Stress S.No. Age Group Low Medium High Total Married (4.6%) 62 (69.7%) 4 (5.7%) 89 2 Single 2 (.%) (66.7%) (.%) Total 64 5 92 Source: Primary Data The Percentage of respondents with high level of stress is higher and low level of stress is lower among the respondents who are Single. This shows that who are Single are having high stress than the Married respondents. TABLE-5 EDUCATION AND STRESS TWO-WAY TABLE S.No. Education Level of Stress Low Medium High Total SSLC with Nursing (.%) (.%) (.%) 2 HSc with Nursing (4.8%) 6 (69.%) 4 (5.9%) 88 7 P a g e
Degree with Nursing (.%) (.%) (.%) Total 64 5 92 Source: Primary Data The percentage of respondents with high level of stress was highest and low level of stress was lowest among the respondents whose education is SSLC with Nursing. This shows that the respondents whose education is SSLC and Nursing are having high stress than that of the other groups. TABLE-6 MONTHLY INCOME AND STRESS-TWO-WAY TABLE S.No. Monthly Income Level of Stress Low Medium High Total Up to Rs. (25.%) (75.%) (.%) 4 2 Above Rs. 2 2 (.6%) 6 (69.%) 5 (7.%) 88 Total 64 5 92 Source: Primary Data The percentage of respondents with high level of stress was the higher among the group earning a Monthly Income of above Rs.2. This shows that Monthly Income of above Rs.2 are having high stress than that of the other Income groups. TABLE 7 -EXPERIENCE AND STRESS-TWO WAY TABLE Level of Stress S.No. Experience Low Medium High Total Up to years (25.%) (75.%) (.%) 4 2 to 2 2 54 2 members (5.4%) (69.2%) (5.4%) 78 Above 2 7 years (.%) (7.%) (.%) Total 64 5 92 Source: Primary Data The percentage of respondents with high level of stress was the highest and low level of stress is the lowest among the respondents whose Experience is Above 2years. This shows that the respondents with an Experience of above 2years are having high stress than that of other groups. 7 P a g e
IX. SUGGGESTIONS In the light of the findings made in the study, the following suggestions are offered to decrease the stress level of Nurses working in the Government Head Quarters Hospital, Dinidgul.. Nearly 96% of the respondents are H.Sc. with Nursing and all other respondents too are having some qualification with Nursing only. It is surprising to note that there is no respondent with M.Sc. Nursing or B.Sc Nursing. Education enriches knowledge and knowledge of various aspects of work reduces the stress out of it. So it is suggested that the qualification for the Job may be prescribed as B.Sc Nursing or M.Sc. Nursing and preference is to be give to M.Sc. Nursing. 2. Nearly 85% respondents are having to 2 years of Experience and % are having more than 2 years of Experience. Only less than 9% of the respondents are Senior Staff Nurses. This also may create stress for nurses. It is suggested that the number of Senior Staff Nurses may be increased, so that a few more Staff Nurses can get promotion as Senior Staff Nurses and there by they can get motivated.. Nearly 7 % of the respondents have above 4years of experience in the current ward. Working in the same place and doing monotonous work may also create stress in the minds of the nurses. Also about 9% of the respondents, who are posted in an unfamiliar ward, are managing with the help of Superiors or Doctors. It is suggested that they may be Job rotation for the Nurses once in a year, which enable to learn the activities when posted in an unfamiliar ward and become an expert while posted in a familiar ward in the Hospital. Also this may reduce the stress of the Nurses. 4. Though nearly 86% of the respondents didn t experience any trouble from the Patients, the remaining 4% of the respondents faced some trouble like Arguments by patients, Non co-operation by patients and Disobedience. Trouble created by the Patients is a major factor creating stress for the Nurses. It is suggested that steps may be taken by the Hospital authorities to appoint one Senior Staff Nurse (Though not possible in each ward) atleast in each wing where many wards are functioning and such problem creating patients may be handled by such staff. They can handle these people very easily because of their experience. 5. Nearly 84% of the respondents are experiencing trouble from the Patients Visitors. It is suggested that steps may be taken by the Hospital authorities to streamline the Rules and Regulations regarding the Patients Visitors and also to display the Rules and Regulations in the entrance of each and every ward. 6. Nearly 7% of the respondents feel that the superiors are very strict. This is also a major factor creating stress for the Nurses. It is suggested that the Superiors may change their attitude and treat the Nurses very gently. This may reduce the stress of the nurses and also the superior can get things done if they are cordial with their subordinates. 7. Nearly 8% of the respondents are suffering because of the shortage of equipments and medicines. This is also creating a lot of stress for the Nurses especially while attending emergency service. It is suggested that the Hospital authorities may rectify this problem by providing sufficient equipments and medicines to each ward. 8. Invariably all the 92 respondents expressed that Vehicle stand, Toilet facilities, water facilities needs improvement. These are the basic amenities which are essential in any of the work place. It is suggested 72 P a g e
that the Hospital authorities may rectify this problem by providing sufficient parking space, Toilet facilities and Drinking water facilities. X.CONCULSION The researcher presents this study with the hope of drawing the attention on various issues in respect of the stress of the Nurses working in the Government Head Quarters Hospital, Dindigul. The researcher humbly states that this study is not a fascinating one to strengthen the academic value. If the study helps the management in any form for their development, the researcher will feel that she is amply rewarded. The researcher feels that, if all the suggestions given are implemented, there will be a considerable reduction in the stress of the Nurses. REFERENCES Journal Papers. Nirmala. R., A STUDY ON STRESS MANAGEMENT AMONG THE EMPLOYEES OF BANKS, International Journal of Science, Technology & Management, Volume No 4, Special Issue No., May 25 2. Dr. A. Jayakumar, An Empirical Study on Stress Management for Higher Secondary Students in Salem District-Tamil Nadu, International Journal of Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences (IJRAOB), 24 Vol: Issue. Geeta Kumari and K. M. Pandey, Studies on Stress Management: A Case Study of Avatar Steel Industries, Chennai, India, International Journal of Innovation Management and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 5, October 2 4. Uma Devi.T, A Study on Stress Management and Coping Strategies With Reference to IT Companies, Journal of Information Technology and Economic Development 2(2), -48, October 2 Theses. Mani Rathnam. R.V (2) a study on Occupational Stress Experience by Private and Public Hospital Nurses in Quetta City, Madurai Kamaraj University,Madurai,Tamil Nadu,India. 2. Radhika J (2) A comparative study between private hospital Nurses and public hospital Nurses job stress,madras University,Chennai. 7 P a g e