title: Factors associated with occupational stress among Chinese female emergency nurses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nursing is a highly stressful occupation and occupational stress is much greater among nurses who work within emergency departments. However, few studies in China focusing on this problem are available.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore factors associated with occupational stress among Chinese female emergency nurses.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted during April-May 2008. The study population consisted of 655 female emergency nurses from 16 hospitals in the Liaoning province, China. Occupational stress was measured by questionnaires that included the Chinese version of the Personal Strain Questionnaire, and data were collected on respondents' demographic characteristics, work situations, occupational roles and personal resources. A total of 510 effective respondents comprised our study subjects (response rate 77.9%). A general linear model was applied to analyse the factors associated with occupational stress.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean Personal Strain Questionnaire score of the emergency nurses was 91.2 and this score was correlated, in descending order of standardised estimate, with role overload, role boundary, role insufficiency, social support, chronic disease and self-care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The factors role overload, role boundary and role insufficiency had the highest association with occupational stress. Improving work conditions and providing health education and an occupational training programme might help to reduce occupational stress among Chinese female emergency nurses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, School of Public Health, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Lie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D024382:Professional Role / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult