Stressors at Intensive Care Units

Abstract

With the purpose of to determine the stress level and to identify the stressors that affect the Intensive Cares nursing staff that works of Cúcuta (North of Santander) during the first semester of the 2005, a descriptive of transverse court research has been done, with a sample conformed by 22 nurses and 59 nursing assistants for 81 people. The instrument used was: “Job Stressors for nursing” designed by Reig A. and Caruana A. (1990), in which 68 estresores is presented, valuing in what measure each situation represents a stress source. It was found that most of the Intensive Cares nursing staff presents some stress degree (94%); the high levels and maxima of stress are produced by situations related with “conflict with the superiors” (52%), followed by the “work overloads” (40%) and the “the patients suffering an death of the patient” (26%). One observes a bigger stress grade in the nursing staff with the position of nurses, young, with married civil status, with smaller labor experience that they work in private institutions and they have recruiting to indefinite term.