The impact of job stress on subjective well-being, marital stress and empathy of nurses

Job stress is rather common in the nursing profession and affects many areas of nurses’ personal lives such as physical, psychological, social and family aspects. Considering the important role of nurses in the society, it is necessary to identify factors that influence their professional and domestic life, and take preventive measures. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of job stress on marital stress and subjective well-being of nurses.
This was a descriptive correlation research. Study population consisted of 120 nurses employed in the city of Ardabil during 2013 and 2014 selected through available sampling. To collect data, Job Stress Questionnaire (Tufts and Gary Anderson), a subjective well-being questionnaire, and Stockholm-Tehran Marital Stress Scale (STMSS) were used. Data analysis was performed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient and regression analysis.
The results of Pearson’s correlation coefficient demonstrated a negative correlation between job stress and subjective well-being in nurses. Moreover, a positive correlation was discovered between job stress and marital stress. Additionally, regression analysis showed that nursing job stress could predict 25 percent of variance of subjective well-being, 27 percent of variance of marital stress and 29 percent of variance of empathy.
It can be concluded that due to the nature of the nursing profession, nurses’ physical, mental and personal lives are influenced by the stress of the workplace. This will in turn lead to increased marital stress and reduced subjective well-being, which may intensify the risk of developing psychological problems and marital issues in the long run.