Abstract

GONCALVES, Ana Rita et al. Stress and engagement in the nursing profession: Analysis of two international contexts. Revista Portuguesa de Enfermagem de Saúde Mental [online]. 2018, n.spe6, pp.59-64. ISSN 1647-2160.  https://doi.org/10.19131/rpesm.0214.

BACKGROUND: Constant changes in working conditions have led to the emergence of psychosocial risks that, combined with organizational changes, human resources management and working hours, can lead to an increase in stress levels and compromise the physical and mental health of workers. AIM: To characterize two samples of nurses (Spanish and Portuguese) and analyse the dimensions of stress and engagement. METHODS: Comparative and correlational study. Non-probabilistic sample for convenience, 504 Portuguese nurses (65.8%) and 363 Spaniards (34.2%) enrolled in the respective Nurses Associations. An online questionnaire was used, consisting of the stress scale, the Nursing Stress Scale, measuring seven dimensions of stress, and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), measuring three dimensions of motivation. RESULTS: Portuguese nurses have higher mean scores in Total Stress (2.2962 ± .43731) than the Spanish (2.2518 ± .46651) and in the "Death and Dying" and "Lack of Support" dimensions, those differences are statistically significant (p =. 015 and p <.001 respectively), and in engagement, the Spaniards presented consistently higher and statistically significant scores (p <.001) in the three dimensions. The professional variable that more dimensions of stress and engagement influences, is the type of schedule, with rotating hours inducing more stress and less motivating than fixed hours, these differences being statistically significant (p≤.001) for Total Stress and the three dimensions of UWES. CONCLUSIONS: There are differences in stress and motivation among Portuguese and Spanish nurses.

Keywords : Mental health; Nursing care; Psychological stress; Motivation.

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