Incidence Rate and Sources of Stress Among Nurses Working in Intensive Care Unit of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences

Stress because of its somatic and psychotic health effects has been changed to a challenge in the management of organizations. Choosing of nursing as a career is full of stress which can compromise the quality of services delivered by nurses. This study was done to evaluate the amount and source of stress in nurses working in intensive care units of Kurdistan University of medical sciences. This study was descriptive-analytic and the population under study included 70 nurses working in special wards which were selected by simple random sampling. Data was collected by a questionnaire contained 41 questions in 4 parts. Statistical analysis of the data showed that approximately all nurses in special wards experienced some degree of psychosomatic and environmental stress. The most important source of stress among soma tics was lack of rest which accounted for 35% of somatic stressors. 55.71% of psychotic stress was related to the environment of the ward. In peripheral units 38.57% of stressors were due to the field infectious diseases. Further evaluation and consideration of stress, stressors and the sources of stress is recommended. These findings also suggest that stress prevention and reduction methods are of significant importance for the managers of medical centers.