Sources and Management of Organizational Stress in Nursing Sub-units in Canada

Abstract

The main objectives in this research were to explore differences in kinds of stress in varying types of nursing sub-units in hospitals and to examine the relative importance of sub-unit characteristics such as the technology, size, environment, context, structure, and internal sub-unit processes in contributing to sub-unit stress. Five kinds of stress were identified: stress from traumatic emotional experiences, psychogeriatric work load, scheduling of work, physician-nurse relationships, and personality role stress; some of these were found to be associated with variations in the technology of the sub units, but did not appear likely to be modifiable through changes in structural design and organizational processes. Other types of stress were related to both the technology and the sub-unit environment and these appeared to be more amenable to modification through the type of structure and internal processes of the sub-unit.