Category: Health Sciences and Medicine
ORIGINAL
Stress Level in Education professionals from an educational institution in North Lima
Nivel de Estrés en profesionales de la Educación de una institución educativa de Lima Norte
Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo1 *, Wilver Ticona-Larico1
*, Naara Medina-Altamirano1
*, Cynthia López-Gómez1
*
1Facultad de Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Educación Enrique Guzmán y Valle. Perú.
Cite as: Gutierrez-Alamo D, Ticona-Larico W, Medina-Altamirano N, López-Gómez C. Stress Level in Education professionals from an educational institution in North Lima. Salud, Ciencia y Tecnología - Serie de Conferencias. 2024; 3:561. https://doi.org/10.56294/sctconf2024561
Submitted: 13-07-2023 Revised: 15-12-2023 Accepted: 23-04-2024 Published: 24-04-2024
Editor: Dr.
William Castillo-González
ABSTRACT
Stress in nurses is one of the most common problems today that exert difficulties for quality care by them, therefore, the research objective is to determine the level of stress in education professionals working in an educational institution in Callao. It is a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study, with a total population of 200 nurses who answered a questionnaire of sociodemographic data and the stress scale in nursing. In their results, 91 (n=45,5 %) have low stress, 88 (n=44 %) medium stress and 21 (n=10,5 %) high stress. In conclusion, strategies should be sought to develop coping tools against stress within the working day.
Keywords: Psychological Stress; Nursing; Mental Health.
RESUMEN
El estrés en enfermeras es uno de los problemas más comunes en la actualidad que ejercen dificultades para una atención de calidad por parte de ellas, por lo tanto, el objetivo de la investigación es determinar el nivel de estrés en profesionales de la educación que laboran en una institución educativa del Callao. Es un estudio cuantitativo, descriptivo y transversal, con una población total de 200 enfermeras que respondieron un cuestionario de datos sociodemográficos y la escala de estrés en enfermería. En sus resultados, 91 (n=45,5 %) presentan estrés bajo, 88 (n=44 %) estrés medio y 21 (n=10,5 %) estrés alto. En conclusión, se deben buscar estrategias para desarrollar herramientas de afrontamiento del estrés dentro de la jornada laboral.
Palabras clave: Estrés Psicológico; Enfermería; Salud Mental.
Worldwide, as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, education professionals have experienced throughout this process of the pandemic, factors such as (1) this considerably affects the mental health of nursing professions and that they cannot provide good care.(2,3)
At the same time, nurses would be in a state of physical and mental stress and would feel isolated and helpless in the face of health threats and the pressure of high-intensity work caused by such public health emergencies.(4,5)
But that, before the problem of this disease, the workload of health professionals, especially nurses, was already witnessed, since they are the majority of the health care workforce; and that due to COVID-19, even (6,7) more of these problems were witnessed and led to more psychological/emotional problems such as stress.(8,9)
Occupational stressors and related factors for nurses can change over time, reflecting factors such as health care developments, changes in consumer relations, policy and regulatory changes.(10,11)
In a study conducted in Iran, in 5422 nurses, whose results indicate that occupational stress was 3,48, which indicates a level of stress between moderate and high and 78,4 % indicated that their work was stressful. Nurses reported problems with shift work, staffing, pay, workplace discrimination, management, policy, and excessive workloads.(12,13)
In a study conducted in Egypt, 210 nurses, whose results showed that three quarters of nurses (75,2 %) had a high stress level compared to the remaining 60,5 %. The type of educational institution and its related workload were the most significant predictors in the outcomes.(14) Another study by Hendy et al., in 2020, where 374 nurses participated and the instrument was the NSS. The findings indicate that, in terms of stress, the moderate level (52,1 %) of nurses predominated, followed by severe (13,4 %) and mild (8,3 %). They concluded that the stress was moderate, due to the fact that nurses studied and worked, in addition to the work overload and lack of training related to COVID-19, which affects professional performance.(15)
In a study conducted in South Asia, in 2021, where 427 nurses participated and the instrument was the NSS. The results indicate that, in terms of stress, the mild level (26,8 %) predominated, followed by the moderate level (52,1 %) and severe (21,1 %). They concluded that the stress was high, due to excess demand from patients and the fear of catching a disease.(16)
In a study conducted in Peru, in 2020, where 102 nurses participated and the instrument was the NSS. The results indicate that, in terms of stress, the low level (47,1 %), followed by the medium (42,2 %) and high (10,8 %) predominated. I conclude that stress was low, because participants received emotional psychological support and took timely steps to reduce workload.(17)
Therefore, his research objective was to determine the level of stress in education professionals working in an educational institution in Callao.
In the study, according to its properties is quantitative, with respect to its methodology is descriptive-cross-sectional non-experimental.(18)
The population was made up of a total of 200 education professionals from the educational institutionization area of an Educational institution in Callao.
· Participants who work more than6 months in the educational institution
· Participants working in the area of educational institutionization
· Participants who agree to participate in the study
The data collection technique was the survey, in which sociodemographic data and the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) in its Spanish version were presented.
The NSS, presents as a structure 34 items distributed in 3 dimensions (physical environment, psychological environment and social environment), each item shows response alternatives on a Likert scale, where, “Never=0", "Sometimes = 1”, “Frequently = 2” and "Very common=3". With a total score of 102, where according to the final values, this is classified into three levels, these being the following: low (0-34 pts), medium (35-68 pts) and high (69-102 pts). Where the higher the score, the higher the stress levels in nurses.(19,20)
Regarding the statistical validation, it was developed by means of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin sample adequacy tests, obtaining a value of 0,806 (KMO > 0,5) and the Bartlett test obtaining p 0,6), interpreting it as reliable.
And finally, the statistical reliability test Cronbach's alpha was performed, whose result was 0,713 (α > 0,6), interpreted as reliable.
In the first place, prior coordination was made with each nursing professional so that they voluntarily fill out the questionnaires after information about the study, and thus have the knowledge of what is going to be done.
Figure 1. Level of stress in education professionals working in an educational institution in Callao
In figure 1, we can see that 45,5 % of the participants have a low stress level, 44 % medium stress and 10,5 % high stress.
Figure 2. Level of stress in its physical environment dimension in education professionals working in an educational institution in Callao
In figure 2, regarding the physical environment dimension, in their results it is observed that 6,5 % of the participants have a high stress level, 37 % medium stress level and 56,5 % low stress level.
Figure 3. Level of stress in its psychological environment dimension in education professionals working in an educational institution in Callao
In figure 3, it is observed with respect to the psychological environment dimension, that 10,5 % of the participants have a high level of stress, 49 % level of medium stress and 40,5 % level of low stress.
Figure 4. Level of stress in its dimension social environment in education professionals working in a educational institution in Callao
In figure 4, with respect to the social environment dimension, in their results it was observed that 9,5 % of the participants have a high stress level, 36 % medium stress level and 54,5 % low stress level.
This study raises the issue of stress in the nursing professional, from a promotional preventive approach, which seeks to contribute with updated knowledge that allows to know the emotional health of these professionals and thereby generate conditions that allow improving their health.
As for the results of stress in education professionals, they have a low level of stress, this is because education professionals have strategies as a response to stress, which can be seen as an interaction process that causes psychophysiological reactions that are immediate; therefore, nurses when experiencing stress pictures by Work overload, due to lack of staff support, exposure to death and uncertainty regarding the treatment of patients, and insufficient availability of personal protective equipment causes stress levels to rise.
Regarding their dimensions, we observed in their results that in the physical and social dimension they have a low level of stress and in psychological environment a medium level, this is because nurses experience work overload that affects nursing care, on the other hand, they do not have enough time for interventions and provide emotional support to the patient and his family, In addition, there is the scheduling of inadequate schedules and shifts that greatly overwhelm the staff for the proper performance of their duties. Not only this, in addition to the fact that as a result of the pandemic, nurses are conditioned with a great emotional burden due to the uncertainty and fears of contagion due to this disease and added to this, there is the excessive workload and greater demand for patients treated daily, this acts as an emotional risk factor, so when presenting all these factors, It compromises inter-labor relations between professionals, especially in nursing and that this generates a tense climate generating internal conflicts within the institution where they are working.(21,22,23)
Therefore, the management team of the nursing department and educational institutionization service of the educational institution establishment, must ensure the proper functioning and dynamics of service care. They must carry out an analysis of the external and internal context in which we live and review the best scientific evidence that supports the decisions to be made for the benefit of the nurses who work there.(24,25,26,27)
In conclusion, strategies should be realized that allow the dosage of care personnel so that stress indices in education professionals are minimized.
It is concluded that orientation programs in emotional support should be carried out in a group manner in health professionals, in order to reduce stress and increase the quality of care in nurses.
It is concluded that strategies should be sought to develop coping tools against stress within the working day.
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FINANCING
None.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
None.
AUTHORSHIP CONTRIBUTION
Conceptualization: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano, Cynthia López-Gómez.
Data curation: Naara Medina-Altamirano, Cynthia López-Gómez.
Formal analysis: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano, Cynthia López-Gómez.
Acquisition of funds: Naara Medina-Altamirano, Cynthia López-Gómez.
Research: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano, Cynthia López-Gómez.
Methodology: Naara Medina-Altamirano, Cynthia López-Gómez.
Project management: Naara Medina-Altamirano, Cynthia López-Gómez.
Resources: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano.
Software: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano, Cynthia López-Gómez.
Supervision: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano.
Validation: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano.
Display: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano.
Drafting - original draft: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano, Cynthia López-Gómez.
Writing - proofreading and editing: Darwin Gutierrez-Alamo, Wilver Ticona-Larico, Naara Medina-Altamirano.