title: Occupational stress in neurosurgery: an exploratory study.
abstract: Occupational stress in nursing has been a popular topic for investigation. In particular, comparisons between practice areas such as the intensive care unit (ICU) and medical-surgical unit have attempted to identify what factors are stressful, and whether some nursing environments are more stressful than others. Such studies have led to inconclusive findings. While many practice areas have been studied, the neurosurgical ICU and neuromedical/neurosurgical units have largely been overlooked. Using interviews, this exploratory study examined aspects of nursing perceived as stressful by staff members working in ICU and medical-surgical units in a neuroscience center. Findings suggested that patient care, communication, workload, management and supervision, organizational and personal circumstances are major sources of stress. These findings are in keeping with studies of stress conducted in national and international non-neurosurgical nursing practice areas.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Wolverhampton, England, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cavanagh
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Snape
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ellis
mesh_terms: D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009493:Neurosurgery; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory / Q000592:standards; D012307:Risk Factors; D013041:Specialties, Nursing; D016526:Workload