Assessment of occupational stress for nurses at haematology units

Occupation stress is the harmful physical and emotional reactions that happen when the needs of the job do not match the abilities, resources, or needs of the worker. The primary purpose of this research is to evaluate of occupational stress, to determine the work environmenta related factors causing stress in nurses in hematology units and to determine the relationship between ocupational stress and demographic and occupational characteristics of nurses. A cross-sectional design was carried out in Medical City Teaching Hospital (Haematology Units) in Baghdad, Iraq, from 23 February 2022 to 20 January 2023. The results of this study revealed a higher level of occupational stress with 60% of haematolgy nurses reporting feeling angry when their job was stressful. Based on Perceived Stress Scale, the most stressful domaines were feeling angry [M(SD)= 3.30 (1.05)]; feeling upset [57%; M(SD)= 3.35 (0.869)]; feeling nervous and stressed [56%; M(SD)= 3.20 (1.119)]; inability to cope [46%; M(SD)= 2.92 (1.252)]; unable to control the important things in their life [58%; M(SD)= 3.22 (1.124)]; and feeling diffuculties dealing were piling up so high [44%; M(SD)= 2.98 (1.110)]. The most stessful work environment-related stressor (factors) was the lack of rewards and encouragment for skillfull work [2.04 (1.10)]. The moderate stressful work environment factors were: "Fear of making a mistake in treating a patient" with mean score of [1.82 (1.150)], follow by "Difficulty in working with a particular nurse within the unit" [1.66 (1.165)]; and "Lack of an opportunity to share experiences and feelings with other personnel in the ward/unit" with a mean of [1.80 (0.876)]. When the level of occupational stress of nurses in haematology units was compared with their sociodemographic, a statistically significant association was found between them (p>0.01). Higher level of occupational stress was linked to nurses age, gender, marital status, nursing qualification, monthly income, years of experiences in nursing and hematology units, and participating in hematology-related training sessions, workshops, and conferences in Iraq. Younger hematology nurses who ages between 19-28 years, female, widows, had diploma in nursing, wadges between DI 601,000-900,000, with 6-10 years of working experiences in nursing profession and hematology units, and those who participating in the hematology training, workshops, and conferences inside the country have a high level of occupational stress. Nurses working in the haematology units Baghdad hospital appears to be a stressful experience. An effective coping strategies and develop self-care competencies need more attention by nurses with developing an effective programme to reduce the level of occupation stress among Iraqi's nurses in Baghdad.