Physical environment, occupational conflict, and ambiguity of roles: Job stressors among nurses

Background and purpose: Providing health services in health centers is a challenging and risky job. So that, realization of quality, performance, efficiency, and fairness in the provision of such services needs a proper condition to ensure that the stress experienced by the personnel is minimized. The present study is a survey of the factors effective on job stress among the nurses working in the educational hospitals affiliated with Tehran Medical Science University, Iran. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted as a correlative work with a sample size of 180 nurses. A researcherdesigned questionnaire was used as data gathering tool. The validity of which was confirmed by the experts and its reliability was ascertained using Cronbach rsquo;s alpha ( alpha = 0.92). The data were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive statistics such as central indices and inferential statistics including Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: Mean score of the physical environment (1.96), occupational conflict (1.97), and ambiguity of role (2.20) were less than the average score. In addition, there was a statistically significant relationship between physical environment, occupational conflict, and ambiguity of roles on one hand and the stress experienced by the nurses on the other hand (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion: Given the significant relationship between physical environment, occupational conflict, and ambiguity of roles on one hand and the nurse rsquo;s stress, on the other hand, improvement of the environmental problem and assigning tasks that are more specific can be greatly helpful in improvement of the work condition.