Effect of personal and work stress on burnout, job satisfaction and general health of hospital nurses in South Africa

• Published in: Health SA = SA Gesondheid Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 252 - 258
• Main Authors: Khamisa, Natasha, Peltzer, Karl, Ilic, Dragan, Oldenburg, Brian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Elsevier B.V 01-12-2017; AOSIS; African Online Scientific Information Systems (Pty) Ltd t/a AOSIS; AOSIS (Pty) Ltd; AOSIS Publishing on behalf of University of Johannesburg
• Subjects: Burn out (Psychology); Burnout; General health; Health aspects; Health Care Sciences & Services; Health Policy & Services; Influence; Job satisfaction; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mental health; Nurses; Nursing care; Occupational health and safety; Occupational stress; Personal stress; Professionals; Quality of life; Resilience (Personality trait); Risk factors; Roles; Stress; Studies; Work stress; South Africa; United Kingdom > UK; Job satisfaction; Burnout; General health; Personal stress; Nurses; Work stress
• ISSN: 1025-9848; 2071-9736; 2071-9736
• DOI: 10.1016/j.hsag.2016.10.001

The majority of studies to date have focused on the effects of work stress in the nursing environment, with the effect of personal stress in nursing being less explored. This study sought to determine whether personal stress is a more significant predictor of burnout, job satisfaction and general health than work stress. Of the 1200 nurses randomly selected to participate in the study, 895 agreed to complete six questionnaires over 3 weeks. Data was analysed using hierarchical multiple linear regression. Findings revealed that personal stress is a better predictor of burnout and general health than job satisfaction, which is better predicted by work stress. The findings of this study could inform potential solutions to reduce the impact of personal and work stress on burnout, job satisfaction and general health. Coping strategies and staffing strategies need to be evaluated within developing contexts such as South Africa to ascertain their effectiveness.