Psychological distress and its association with job satisfaction among nurses in a teaching hospital

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of psychological distress and its association with job satisfaction among nurses in a teaching hospital in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Nurses constitute the majority of health care workers, and, compared with other professions, nursing profession is highly stressful and, hence, a cause of anxiety and depression. This may affect nurses' job satisfaction.

METHOD: Using self-administered questionnaires, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Job Satisfaction Scale for Nurses (JSS), a cross-sectional study of 932 nurses from the inpatient departments of a teaching hospital was conducted in December 2017. Descriptive analyses and multiple logistic regressions were used for the analysis. The STROBE guideline was used in this study.

RESULTS: The overall prevalence of psychological distress was 41%. The prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression were 14.4%, 39.3% and 18.8%, respectively. It was found that single and widowed nurses had a higher level of stress, anxiety and depression compared with married nurses. In addition, nurses in the age of 26-30 years had a higher level of depression than nurses in other age groups. Also, nurses who worked in the paediatric departments had a higher level of depression compared with nurses in other departments. The majority of the nurses were satisfied with their job at 92.0%. Those nurses who were not satisfied were found to be significantly associated with a high level of stress and depression.

CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the level of stress, anxiety and depression is high. Stress and depression were found to be associated with nurses' low job satisfaction.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Stress and depression can affect nurses' job satisfaction, it is important for nursing managers to institute strategies to address this issue.