What Triggers Work-Related Stress?

1. Triggers of Work-Related Stress

Work-related stress occurs when abilities, resources and/or needs of an employee do not necessarily match the requirements of their role. Many factors influence workplace stress including:

• Shift work
• Poor interactions with colleagues, patients and/or families
• Lack of support from colleagues
• Inadequate training
• Environment
• Heavy workloads

All of these triggers can lead to burnout, decreased job satisfaction, attrition and depersonalization and can compromise nursing care, placing patients at risk.

Stress places us at risk for physical and psychological disorders. Therefore, the need for nursing leadership to identify and mitigate stress is twofold. The nurse manager is at risk for stress in that role and must identify triggers, the types of stress and ways to mitigate the stress inherent in the leadership role. In addition, it is crucial for nursing leadership to identify not just what triggers stress for the staff, but also the types of stress staff may be experiencing.

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2. Indicators of Stress

Some indicators of work-related stress can include:

• Has perfectionism behaviors
• Inappropriate outbreaks of emotional distress
• Frequently absent or tardy from the workplace
• Complains of sleeplessness, feeling fatigued and impatient with others
• Interrupts other people’s speech
• Appears pessimistic and frequently indecisive
• Takes little to no breaks
• Appears distant or withdrawn
• Has reduced attention span
• Has noticeable changes in weight

think about it

What other types of behaviors in either yourself or in the staff would indicate work-related stress?

Authored by Elsie Crowninshield, RNP, DNP, CCRN, NE-BC and Adele Webb, Ph.D., RN, FNAP, FAAN

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