Workplace stressors, psychological well-being, resilience, and caring behaviours of mental health nurses: a descriptive correlational study
Abstract
There is widespread recognition that workplace stress can have profound negative impacts on nurses' well-being and practice. Resilience is a process of positive adaptation to stress and adversity. This study aimed to describe mental health nurses' most challenging workplace stressors, and their psychological well-being, workplace resilience, and level of caring behaviours, explore the relationships between these factors, and describe differences in workplace resilience for sociodemographic characteristics. In a descriptive correlational study using convenience sampling, data were collected from N = 498 nurses working in mental health roles or settings in Victoria Australia via an online cross-sectional survey. Key findings included weak to strong (r = 0.301 to r = 0.750) positive relationships between workplace resilience with psychological well-being across all stressor categories (consumer/carer; colleague; organizational role; and organizational service). Psychological well-being was moderately high, but lower for nurses indicating consumer/carer-related stressors as their most stressful challenge. There were weak to moderate (r = 0.306 to r = 0.549) positive relationships between workplace resilience and psychological well-being, and no relationship between resilience and caring behaviours. Workplace resilience was lower (P < 0.05) for less experienced nurses compared with those with >5 years' experience, and lower for younger nurses compared with those aged ≥40 years. To improve their resilience and prevent psychological distress, there is prime opportunity to support nursing students with well-being and resilience-building strategies during their undergraduate education, and to support new graduates with similar programmes when they enter the workforce.
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Organizational stress may be harmful for healthcare professionals' mental and physical health and well-being.
“The literature recognizes that organizational stress maybe harmful for healthcare professionals mental and physical health and well-being (Melnyk et al., 2013; Foster et al., 2020).”
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- Authors
- Foster, K., Roche, M., Giandinoto, J., & Furness, T.
- Affiliations
- Melbourne Health (AU)
- University of Technology Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Foster, Kim
- Venue
- International Journal of Mental Health Nursing
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-05-25
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 56-68
- ISSN
- 1445-8330 (ISSN-L)
- 1447-0349
- OpenAlex
- W2945591231
- Cited by
- 203
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 9
- FWCI
- 21.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Mental Health Nursing (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
- Keywords
- occupational stressors, psychological well-being, workplace resilience, caring behavior, psychiatric nurses, nurse well-being, nurses' experiences, nurse age, resilience interventions, nursing education
- MeSH terms
- Occupational Stress, Workforce, Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Aged, Burnout, Professional, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Nursing, Workplace, Resilience, Psychological, Young Adult
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