Publication:

Occupational Stress Among Nurses Working in the Operating Theatres at Kenyatta National Hospital

The purpose of this study was to determine occupational stress levels and contributing factors among nurses working in the operating theatres at Kenyatta National Hospital. Occupational stress reflects an undesirable response to an imbalance between job demands, and coping abilities of persons involved leading to burn out. The operating theatres have recorded steady increases in workload against a declining number of nurses in post thus posing higher risk for occupational stress. The particular objectives of the study were to determine the levels of occupational stress and the influence of individual, organizational and job factors. The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional where data was obtained at a point in time. Fisher’s formula was used to calculate the sample size from the current 180 nurses. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Pretesting was done in prime care theatre. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. Analysis entailed descriptive measures and tests of hypotheses including correlation analysis and ANOVA, at a confidence of 95% and significance level of 0.05. Results were presented in form of tables. The study found mixed findings on the association between individual factors and occupational stress. There was a difference in occupational stress between the gender, the education and age groups. However, there was no difference in occupational stress between marital status groups. There was no statistically significant relationship between individual internal factors and occupational stress among nurses working in the operating theatres at Kenyatta National Hospital (r=-.110, p=.269). There was a statistically significant relationship between organizational factors and occupational stress among nurses working in the operating theatres at Kenyatta National Hospital (r=.716, p=.000). The study established a serious staff shortage that has adverse effects on the nurses’ occupational stress. There is a statistically significant relationship between job factors and occupational stress among nurses working in the operating theatres at Kenyatta National Hospital(r=.874, p=.000). The study recommends that the Hospital management carries out a workload analysis in an effort to address the staffing shortage and thus reduce the occupational related stress. The study also recommends adoption of measures to enhance staff retention. These measures can include access to appropriate social welfare facilities, and performance evaluations leading to job enlargement, opportunities for promotions and other forms of recognition.