Introduction
Across various professions, including nursing, stress has and remains to be one of the most comprehensive factors that prejudice an individual’s professional progress, and performance. This paper limits itself to discussing a wider array of factors that are closely aligned with stress. Precisely, this paper comprises of two parts; Part A, and Part B. The first part of the paper; Part A will offer an analysis of various theories on stress; hence, come up with a personal definition of this concept. In addition, this paper will offer a reflection of a stressful situation I had in my life. As such spiritual, maturational, sociocultural, and situational factors of stress will be explored. The first section will conclude with a discussion on ego-defence mechanism that I utilized in the periods when I experienced stress. Part B will offer an analysis of stressors that are common in the nursing profession, and the adequate techniques of resolving the same.
Part A
Theories on Stress
Different theorists have come up with a hypothesis on the scope of stress. One of such theorists is James-Lange who came up with the theory on emotion. In this theory, James-Lange argues that stress and emotion are closely related. James-Lange claims that emotions are the main factors that precipitate the occurrence of stress. However, this theorist notes that there mere presence of an emotion does not necessarily trigger the occurrence of stress (Edwards & Burndard, 2003, page 184). Instead, it is the body that triggers stressor perception; hence, enabling the body to respond to stress. In a nutshell, James-Lange theory states that stress emanates from feeling of fear, or any other feeling of emotion that emanates when an individual experiences changes in the body. This shows that stress can only happen or occur in cases where there is a bodily response on the same.
Another theory that explicates the scope of stress is Cannon-Bard; the emergency theory. While James-Lange theory linked stress with emotions, Cannon-Bard’s theory claims that stress is closely associated with an emergency. In fact, Cannon-Bard’s theory notes that the occurrence of stress does not necessarily require a response by the body as hypothesized by James-Lange. Instead, Cannon-Bard argues that stress is something that happens simultaneously, which triggers an emotional response. Conclusively, Cannon-Bard theory is supported is based on the neurological basis, whereby an event, especially an emergency, triggers the brain to respond in a simultaneous manner. The current theory concludes that stress calls for the presence of a stimulating event, which trigger a simultaneous response by the brain (Yamashita et al., 2012, page 490).
The third theory on stress is The Schachter-Singer theory. This theory is somewhat a combination of James-Lange, and Cannon-Bard theories. As such, this theory notes that stress results from both cognitive activity, and the body’s response. Deductively, Schachter-Singer claims that stress emanates from cases where the brain identifies a stimulus that is stressful; hence, resulting in emotional response by the body. Arguably, this theory notes that an individual first gains awareness on the reason for emotional response. In cases where there is no explicit reason for emotional response, the body resorts to environmental cues that may require emotional response (Antai-Otong, 2001, page 37).
Personal definition of stress
It is from the above theories on stress whereby I derive my personal definition of stress. For this purpose, my favourite definition of stress is the manner in which an individual responds to the unexpected. Speaking of the unexpected, this refers to occurrences that occur in an individual’s life, which are not planned or foreseen. Based on a personal thought, stress does not occur in isolation nor spontaneously. Instead, stress results from interactions that an individual experiences with the environment and with other people. Many at times, interactions between an individual occur in a manner that an individual can adapt. However, stress occurs in cases where such interactions exceed the adaptive capabilities of an individual. On another note, my definition of stress is closely aligned with the concept of perception. Speaking of perception, this refers to the manner in which an individual judges things. The manner in which someone judges a given situation varies (Edwards & Burndard, 2003, page 193). As a result, the things that cause stress vary from one person to the other. Overall, my definition of stress is an individual response to situations that they did not expect.
Stressful Situation in my Life
As I reflect on my life, it has certainly been interesting, filled with challenges and opportunities in equal measure. I have experienced various challenging situations, most of which have made me become stressed. The most comprehensive situation when I was stressed in my life was when my young sibling was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, after which his life was gradually reduced to reliance on others, coupled with a heart-breaking memory loss. This situation was really stressful for as I empathized with my sibling. Every time I broke down as I reminisced the way we enjoyed childhood games with him before his life was shut down by Alzheimer’s disease.
Physical, situational, socio-cultural, maturational, and spiritual factors of stress
Physical factors of stress mainly connote to physical factors that are aligned with stressful situations. During my stressful situation mentioned above, the most pertinent physical factor that made me stressed is the lack of rest, and relaxation. I could not rest because I often used to look after my ailing sibling. I felt that I owed him a lot; hence, I took most of the time catering for her; hence, I did not get enough time to rest. On the other hand, the situational factors of stressed during my stressful situation may be attributed to the transition that I had to take. Seeing my sibling move from a healthy person to a person who depends on other was a life transition moment, which was filled with a lot of stress. Arguably, maturational stress factors that perhaps elicited stress in the above connoted situation is the fact that I had not had any experience with a person with Alzheimer’s disease. Socio-cultural factors emanating from the stressful situation that I had may be accredited to the family problem we faced looking after my ailing sister (Potter et al., 2012, page 1006). Finally, spiritual stress factors related with my situation include the fact that I had to always seek divine help in form of prayer for my ailing sibling.
Ego-defence Mechanism
During the stressful situation discussed above, I developed a number of ego-defence mechanisms. The first form of ego-defence mechanism that I developed is projection. Projection as an ego-defence mechanism occurs in cases where an individual attributes their own stress to another person (Yamashita et al., 2012, page 495). During my stressful situation, I began blaming God for the situation that my sibling was facing, as such, I blamed God for the stress caused by the situation. Another form of ego-defence mechanism that I developed during my stressful situation is denial. In employing this ego-defence denied the fact that my sibling will not be normal anytime. However, the fact was that the condition affecting my sibling; Alzheimer’s disease is not treatable; hence, she would never become normal.
Part B
Possible stressors in the nursing profession
There exists a number of stressors in the nursing field, which include stressors resulting from job performance, stressors caused by interpersonal relationship between nurses themselves and other health professional, as well as stressors elicited by working conditions. Stressors resulting from job performance mainly refer to stress causing factors that result from the tasks allocated to the nurse (s). Such factors may include heavy workload or lack of enough time to complete the given tasks, irregular working hours, infrequent rest breaks, and repetitive tasks. Other job-performance related factors include underutilization of the nursing skills that a nurse has acquired, uncertain job expectations, and lack of independence (Potter et al., 2012, page 508). Overall, job performance related factors result in lack of motivation amongst nurses; hence, jeopardizing their performance.
Stressors emanating from interpersonal relationships mainly occur in vases where the nurse’s working relationships occur in poor social environments where there is lack of support from nurse supervisors, and other health professionals. Negative culture founded on blame, denial, and ironical jokes jeopardize working relationships amongst nurses, and other health professionals. The management style employed coupled with lack of nurse employee participation in decision making also causes stress amongst nurses. Finally, stressors aligned with working conditions mainly occurs in cases where the working conditions of nursing professionals are unpleasant. Examples of unpleasant working conditions include over-crowding, reduced lighting, inflexible working hours, and lack of proper ventilation in working areas (Edwards & Burndard, 2003, page 196).
Stress management techniques
There are various techniques that can be utilized to manage the above connoted stressors that are eminent in the nursing profession. Techniques that can be utilized to manage stressors caused by performing the job entail the need to provide nurses with flexible work schedules. This would ensure that the work schedules suit the needs of the nurses. With regards to stressors caused interpersonal relationship, team building activities can be initiated, which will allow nurses and other health professional bond and understand each (Antai-Otong, 2001, page 33). This will allow the health professionals to establish ample working conditions. Finally, a technique that can be utilized to manage stress caused by poor working conditions is to provide improved working conditions for the nurses. Speaking of improved working condition, this refer to conditions where the physical conditions such as ventilation and lighting are appropriately structured.
Conclusion
In conclusion, stress is a pertinent concern in the nursing profession, which can jeopardize the performance of nurse practitioners. There exists different forms of stressors that elicit stress amongst nurses. Nevertheless, there exist distinct strategies that can be utilized to manager stressors in the field of nursing.
References
Antai-Otong, D. (2001). Creative Stress-Management Techniques for Self-Renewal. Dermatology Nursing, 13(1), 31-39.
Edwards, D., & Burndard P. (2003). “A Systematic Review of Stress and Stress Management Interventions for Mental Health Nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 42(2), 169-200.
Potter, P., Perry, A., Ross-Kerr, J., Wood, M., Astle, B., & Duggleby, W. (2012). Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing- Text + Study Guide Package. Elsevier- Health Sciences Division.
Yamashita, K., Saito, M., & Takao, T. (2012). Stress and Coping Styles in Japanese Nursing Students. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 18 (5), 489-496.
