Perceived Stress and its Physiological and Biochemical Parameter Alteration in Hospital Nursing and Non Nursing Supportive Staff

Stress which is a physiological, psychological human response, the manner in which human body reacts to such conditions is exactly what stress is known as. Stress supposed to be known as the imbalance between perceived threats and coping capabilities of individuals.

The present study aimed to understand the interplay among the lifestyle habits, body weight, physical activity, work stress among nursing professionals and non-nursing professionals. A study with 240 professionals (120 nursing staff, 120 non-nursing supportive staff) examined how these employees cope up with anxiety and uncertainty in the run-up to hectic working hours. Validated and scientifically accepted scale for perceived stress (PSS) was used, to examine stressful life events and its adverse effect on professional's health; different physiological and biochemical parameters were estimated using standard protocols. The final data analysis was done by using appropriate statistical analysis.

The overall prevalence of stress found to be more statistically significant in both the groups in terms of their Age, BMI, and Blood Pressure (P<0.05). The stepwise analysis indicated that increased BMI, changes in Blood Pressure is closely associated with increased levels of perceived stress in nursing staff.

This study clearly highlights that nursing staffs are suffering from moderate level of perceived stress. The results of this study allow us to affirm that perceived stress level assessment can be used to find out the occupational related stress among professionals.