THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NURSES 'JOB STRESS AND STIGMA TENDENCY

Abstract

Nurses are among the occupational groups that experience the most intense work stress since they provide care to a stressful group that is sick or at risk of illness. Stigmatization is one of the factors that negatively affect the working life and the functioning of the environment. A high tendency to stigmatize can further increase work stress on employees. The study was conducted in a descriptive and relationship-seeking manner in order to determine the levels of nurses' job stress and tendency to stigmatize, and the relationship between job stress and stigma tendency. The study was carried out with 245 nurses working in a university hospital. The study data were obtained using the personal information form, the Work Stress Scale and the Stigmatization Scale. It was determined that the average score of the nurses' Work Stress Scale is 2.44 ± 0.54 and 75.9% of them have a stress level that creates a stimulus effect and increases success. It was found that the levels of nurses' psychological stigma tendency (49.11 ± 12.00) were below the average; It was found that 31.8% of them had high stigma tendency levels. It has been determined that the Stigmatization Scale of nurses gives the highest scores to the items "Employees with more seniority like to establish authority over young people", "I do not meet with a person whose lifestyle does not suit me outside of work" and "The efficiency of the elderly personnel in the work environment is very low". When the relationship between the nurses' Job Stress Scale and the Stigmatization Tendency Scale general point average is examined; It was determined that there is a weakly significant positive correlation (r = 0.276; p <0.01). In addition, it was found that the job stress levels of nurses with a high stigma tendency were statistically significantly higher (p <0.01). It is recommended to provide training and information on the stigma tendency and coping with work stress with in-service trainings.