Assessment of Pediatric Oncology Nurses' Occupational Stress: A Comparative Study.

Background: Pediatric oncology nurses (PONs) present higher levels of occupational stress (OS) related to the nature of the care they provide, along with the extreme workload and the emotional distress related to the loss of a patient. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the level of OS that PONs experience in Greece in comparison to the stress experienced by general pediatric nurses (PNs). Methodology: This is a non-invasive comparative cross-sectional study. We assessed the stress level in a sample of 60 PNs and 60 PONs, working in the two biggest pediatric public hospitals in Greece, using the Nurse Stress Scale (NSS). The self-reported stress levels among these groups were compared. X² test and t-test were used to investigate the relationship between variables. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: In all NSS' subscales PONs stated higher levels of stress in comparison to PNs, but this was statistically significant only in the death & suffering (p = 0.033) and lack of staff support subscales (p = 0.027). The majority of PNs are experiencing occasional OS on almost all NSS questions. Workload, death & suffering, conflicts with other nurses and supervisors, with medical staff, treatment uncertainty were noted as particularly stressful factors in both groups. Conclusions: PONs experience greater stress than PNs, but more evidence is needed to support the hypothesis and reveal the related factors. However, younger age, exposure to patients' death and suffering, lack of support from colleagues seem to be the core determinants related to PONs stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]