Perceived occupational stressors among emergency medical service providers: a qualitative study
Open accessAbstract
Introduction: Emergency medical services (EMS) providers are at continuous exposure to occupational stressors which negatively affect their health and professional practice. This study explored perceived occupational stressors among EMS providers. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted from December 2019 to April 2020 using conventional content analysis. Sixteen EMS providers were purposively selected from EMS stations in Hamadan, Iran. Semi-structured interviews (with length of 45–60 min) were held for data collection. Data were analyzed through Graneheim and Lundman’s conventional content analysis approach. Findings: Data analysis resulted in the development of two themes, namely critical conditions of EMS provision, and personal and professional conflicts. The six categories of these two themes were complexity of patients’ clinical conditions, interruption of EMS provision, health hazards, interpersonal problems, interprofessional interactions, and legal conflicts. Conclusion: Besides the stress associated with emergency patient care, EMS providers face many different occupational stressors. EMS managers can use the findings of the present study to develop strategies for reducing occupational stress among EMS providers and thereby, improve their health and care quality.
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Paramedics are confronted with a variety of stressful elements or job demands.
“All the while, paramedics are confronted with a variety of stressful elements [7, 8] or job demands”
From Paramedics’ perceptions of job demands and resources in Finnish emergency medical services: a qualitative study (2022) · cites this paper as [8]
Expectations of performance may form a dual-edged sword: for some, they catalyse a personal drive towards developing competencies further and moving towards professional self-actualisation; for others, they add stress to their work.
“Such expectations of performance, however, may form a dual-edged sword; for some, this may catalyse a personal drive towards developing their competencies further and moving towards professional self-actualisation [50], which is a positive outcome also presented in our research. Meanwhile, others may consider such expectations as adding stress to their work [8].”
From Paramedics’ perceptions of job demands and resources in Finnish emergency medical services: a qualitative study (2022) · cites this paper as [8]
Notable environmental or assignment-related hazards for paramedics include an increased prevalence of violence and threats, which has reached a point where it might be expected and even normalised.
“Notable environmental or assignment-related hazards are an increased prevalence of violence and threats towards paramedics [8], which has reached a point where it might be expected and even normalised [51].”
From Paramedics’ perceptions of job demands and resources in Finnish emergency medical services: a qualitative study (2022) · cites this paper as [8]
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Ericsson, C. R., Lindström, V., Rudman, A., & Nordquist, H. (2022) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-022-08856-9 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“Meanwhile, others may consider such expectations as adding stress to their work [8].”
BackgroundResultInfluential
- Authors
- Afshari, A., Borzou, S. R., Shamsaei, F., Mohammadi, E., & Tapak, L.
- Affiliations
- Hamedan University of Medical Sciences (IR)
- Tarbiat Modares University (IR)
- Corresponding author
- Borzou, Seyed Reza
- Venue
- BMC Emergency Medicine
- Published
- 2021-03-23
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 35-35
- ISSN
- 1471-227X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7988920
- OpenAlex
- W3136379509
- Cited by
- 53
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 9.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Emergency Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Hamadan University of Medical Sciences
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Keywords
- occupational stress, emergency medical services, EMS providers, perceived stressors, health hazards, interpersonal problems, interprofessional interaction, legal dispute, occupational health
- MeSH terms
- Occupational Stress, Emergencies, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Service, Hospital, Humans, Iran, Qualitative Research
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