Abstract
This study investigated occupational stress, compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burnout among Irish nurses. A quantitative mixed correlational, cross sectional survey design used purposive snowball sampling of (N=224) nurses aged 18 – 68 years, including (N=7) males, (N=216) females and (N=1) identifying as other. The survey included seven demographic questions, two self-reporting questionnaires: The Nursing Stress Scale (Gray-Toft and Anderson, 1981) and the ProQQL (Stamm, 2009, 2012). Analysis showed a negative relationship between occupational stress and compassion satisfaction and a positive relationship between occupational stress and compassion fatigue and burnout. Determinants of stress included workload, inadequate preparation, conflict with other nurses and physicians and lack of support. General nurses, children’s nurses and full-time nurses reported higher stress, with no differences reported across nursing grades and sectors. An inverse relationship was found between age and occupational stress. These results may prompt change in the management of stress, promoting wellbeing among Irish nurses.
