Occupational stress of workers in a public hospital of belo horizonte: a case study in intensive care units

Abstract

This survey was conducted in 2009 to identify the main factors contributing to occupational stress of health workers in three adult ICUs of a public municipal hospital in Belo Horizonte. For this purpose a structured questionnaire was used with 28 questions taken from a version of the Job Stress Scale of the Demand-Control model of Karasek, abridged and adapted to Portuguese. This is a quantitative case study of a descriptive nature. One may consider that the objectives presented were achieved and that results indicated high levels of demand, control and social support. Correlation between the constructs showed no statistically significant differences for ICUs under study. Workers experience the work process actively and even when demands are excessive, they generate less harmful impacts because the worker can develop strategies to deal with difficulties of planning working hours according to his biological rhythms. The need to conduct research in the occupational health area is emphasized to develop and orient the hospital sectors together with the human resources sector to offer improved conditions for obtaining occupational health quality for these professionals.