Thesis

Abstract

Nursing is a stressful occupation with various physical and psychosocial stressors inherent in its practice. While the physical stressors of nursing are generally understood, less understood are the psychological and social stressors of the profession. With the many changes in healthcare facilities and structures that are occurring today and, in turn, affecting nurses, it is increasingly important to better understand the psychosocial stress experiences of nurses. Grounded in the Job Demand-Control-Support Framework, the objectives of this study were to: 1) examine factors associated with quality of work life (QWL) of Registered Nurses working in four small urban hospital-based obstetric programs, 2) determine if nursing occupational stress, QWL, and various factors (e.g., demographic, locations with and without cross-training) are associated with nurses’ work ability, where work ability is the worker’s capacity to perform their work, as was measured by the work ability index, and 3) review and evaluate some workplace interventions targeting occupational stress management and burnout for nurses.