Assessment of stress, coping and presenteeism in a nephrology unit

Abstract

Background/Objective: Several investigations about stress, coping e presenteeism among nurses from different work units were already conducted in national and international context. However, few studies analyze these subjects in nurses who attend in nephrology units, where features and work process are specific to this unit. This study aimed to assess stress, coping and presenteeism among nurses attending in a nephrology service.

Methods: It is a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional research conducted in a nephrological unit from a teaching hospital between March and April 2010. The population was composed by three nurses on direct assistance to patients admitted in the nephrological award. We applied a form to sociodemographic characterization, the Occupational Stress Inventory, Occupational Coping Scale and the Work Limitations Questionnaire. The variables were statistically analyzed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS – version 17.0). Qualitative variables were described through absolute and relative frequencies and qualitative ones through median, interquartile range, average and standard deviation.

Results: Results indicated high stress intensity in this population, and the interpersonal relationships were assessed as the highest stressful situation for nurses. Symptoms handing was the coping strategy most used for nurses of nephrology unit. Regarding to presenteeism analysis, we obtained a productivity loss rate of 5.5%, with emphasis on physical and mental-interpersonal requirements.

Conclusions: We concluded that nurses assessed the situations from work environment as stressful and they use coping strategies focused on emotion, which are considered non effective to deal with stress. It may explain the high stress intensity found among nurses, which is a possible reason for the productivity loss.