Exploring Stressors Experienced by Registered Nurses at a Selected Urban Teaching Hospital in Rwanda

Nursing is identified as being among the most stressful occupations with nurses continuously encountering stressors while delivering services . Stress is regarded as a challenge experienced by practising nurses. Studies have shown the negative influence of stress on both nurses and patients. However, little is known about the stressors experienced by registered nurses (RNs) in Rwanda. The main aim was to explore the stressors experienced by RN’s in a selected urban teaching hospital in Rwanda. A non-experimental, exploratory retrospective contextual study using a self-administered questionnaire to assess RNs’ stressors was conducted. A questionnaire of nurses’ stressors developed by Bianchi (1990) was used. Convenience sampling involved n=85 hospital-employed RNs. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15 and Intercooled Stata 10. The results were summarized using descriptive statistics i.e. frequencies and associations using Chi-square and presented in tables and graphs. Pearson’s chi-square was used to examine possible associations between demographic data and stressors. A p-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant with a 95% confidence interval. The results revealed that RNs face a variety of stressors such as staff and material shortages, facing the deaths of patients, dissatisfaction with the work environment, work overload and time spent on bureaucratic activities. The consequences of stress were: low quality of patient care, job dissatisfaction and burnout syndrome. RNs’ stressors need to be addressed in order to create a working environment conducive to high quality patient care.