Ansiedad y estrés en la práctica del personal de enfermería en un hospital de tercer nivel en Guadalajara

Abstract

Nurses are exposed to a certain degree to stress and anxiety, which affect their professional practice in patients they look after. Stress and anxiety symptoms appear when adjustment between worker, job post and organization break down. The presence of stress and anxiety in nurse practice represent a risk factor in the nurses’ mental and physical health, work absence and low motivation for work. The main object of this research was to identify the presence of stress and anxiety symptoms in nurses as well as to observe their impact in practice, health and efficiency. Objetive: we selected randomly 214 nurses in a hospital of third level in Guadalajara and applied them the following evaluation scales: Stress Symptoms Inventory (Inventario de Síntomas de Estrés – ISE), Activty Predisposition Scale (Escala de Predisposición a la Activación - EPA), Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety Inventory (Inventario de Ansiedad Cognitiva y Somática –CAS) and a questionnaire to evaluate nurse practice. Results: We observed a considerable high percentage of nurses with stress and anxiety symptoms in
the age group from 40 to 49 years old, which tends to be higher as seniority increases. Conclusions: these findings could justify a preventive intervention program in nurses with high stress and/or anxiety scores to help them to improve their personal health and professional practice.