Relationship Between Occupational Stress and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Nurses

Aims: Pregnancy is a stressful process and nursing is also one of the most stressful jobs for women. The addition of occupational stress in women nurses can exacerbate pregnancy stress and affect pregnancy outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between occupational stress and adverse consequences of pregnancy in nurses.   Instrument Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on the population of married women with a history of pregnancy in the nursing departments and operating rooms of medical education centers in Isfahan city, Iran, in 2018. Totally, 325 female nurses who had the experience of just one pregnancy while working in the nursing profession were selected using census method. Data collection tools were the OSIPOW occupational stress inventory and a reproductive health researcher-made questionnaires. The data were coded and analyzed using SPSS 16 software by Chi-Square, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney tests. Findings: The mean of occupational stress score was 160.0±19.5. There were no significant relationships between the mean of stress score of the subjects with the demographic parameters except the standard noise level in the workplace (p=0.004). There was a significant relationship between occupational stress and spontaneous abortion at 20-37 weeks (p=0.009). Conclusion: The level of stress in most of the nurses is moderate to severe and there are no relationships between the stress score and adverse pregnancy outcomes.