Investigating the Association of Mental Workload, Occupational Fatigue and Job Stress in Emergency Nurses in Iran

Mental workload (MW) and occupational fatigue (OF) are among the harmful factors in the working environment of the emergency nursing profession, which can be related to the quality of care provided and job stress (JS) in emergency nurses. Accordingly, this study investigates the relationship between MW, MF and JS in emergency nurses in 2023 in Ardabil, Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted by measuring OF, JS and MW of emergency nurses in hospitals of Ardabil Province, Iran. Information was collected through a checklist that recorded the demographic information in addition to the NASA task load index, JS by Orly and Giordano and the Swedish OF inventory questionnaires. The statistical analysis was conducted by the SPSS software, version 22.

The mean mental state of the participants was 16.7±3.6. Meanwhile, 40% of nurses had a high mental load. The mean condition of the OF was high (49.02±4.2; 23.2%). Regarding JS, 45.5%, 25.9% and 28.6% were the high, medium, and low levels, respectively. A direct and significant relationship was detected between MW, JS and OF (P<0.05).

The mean MW, JS and OF among emergency nurses were high. Almost half and about a quarter of the emergency nurses are under JS and OF, respectively. Therefore, to improve emergency nurses’ health conations, and productivity, and create safe conditions in emergencies, the control and management of this harmful occupational factor should be under continuous monitoring.