title: Somatic symptoms, perceived stress and perceived job satisfaction among nurses working in an Indian psychiatric hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  High stress perception by nurses caring for psychiatric patients can lead to somatic symptoms which impact on their job satisfaction perception.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess and correlate the level of somatic symptoms, perceived stress and perceived job satisfaction among the subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors used a descriptive correlation design to invite 150 nurses of both genders working for more than one year with psychiatric patients. The Scale for Assessment of Somatic Symptoms (Chaturvedi et al., 1987) and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for stress and job satisfaction perception were used to collect data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The nurses (128) reported mainly pain related (4.87±2.97) somatic symptoms. Somatic symptoms positively correlated (r=0.302) with stress perception and negatively correlated (r=-0.231) with perceived job satisfaction, while perceived stress and perceived job satisfaction were negatively correlated (r=-0.460, p=0.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate a need for stress management interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (Institute of National Importance), Near Wilson Garden, Hosur Road, Bangalore 560029, Karnataka State, India. Electronic address: sailaxmi63@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sailaxmi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gandhi
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (Institute of National Importance), Near Wilson Garden, Hosur Road, Bangalore 560029, Karnataka State, India. Electronic address: sangeetha.canfnza@gmail.com.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sangeetha
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam, India. Electronic address: anurnahar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nurnahar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (Institute of National Importance), Near Wilson Garden, Hosur Road, Bangalore 560029, Karnataka State, India. Electronic address: skchatur@gmail.com.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D063189:Symptom Assessment; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Job satisfaction perception; Nurses; Psychiatric patients; Somatic symptoms; Stress management; Stress perception