STRESS AND ANXIETY LEVELS AMONG NURSES IN THE TAMALE METROPOLIS, GHANA

Abstract

Nursing has been known as a stressful profession that influences the quality of health care delivery and patient safety as it requires a high level of skill, team working in a variety of situations and provide 24-hour delivery of care to clients of various needs of medical attention. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of stress and anxiety among nurses working in the Tamale metropolis, Ghana. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among three hundred and eightyfour (384) nurses at both hospitals consisting of Eighty (80) Enrolled Nurses, sixty (60) Community Health, One Hundred Eighty-Six (186) Registered Nurses and fifty-eighty (58) Nursing Officers were recruited for this study. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used. Data was collected through the administration of selfadministered semi-structured questionnaires. These questionnaires consisted of sociodemographic data, stress assessment using the perceived stress scale, anxiety assessment using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and stress reducing management techniques assessments. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 22 and inferential statistics. The study found that 62.2% of the nurses were moderately stressed and 54.2% were found to have severe anxiety. Low to moderate stress and moderate to severe anxiety were associated with age, marital status and educational levels. Again, the study found that lack of good night sleep, inadequate resources to work with, conflicting demand of people around the nurse and over-burden with workload among others as the common workplace stressors of nurses. Effective stress management strategies or techniques are essential steps to produce efficient nursing and to reduce or control the level of stress among nurses. The study further found that, the common stress management strategies such as I recognize my work, I seek support and advice from colleagues and I resort to my hobbies among others were used by nurses. In conclusion, majority of nurses are moderately stressed with severe anxiety. The findings of this study recommended that managers and supervisors should identify and develop reinforcement strategies to reduce stress and anxiety and promote the quality of working conditions for nurses.