Increased Job Stress - Research Paper Example

Relationship between Job Stress and performance Jacquelyn Landolfi AIU 7/28 MGT600-1003B-06: Business Research for Decision Making Meir Russ Abstract Job stress is commonly cited as a critical issue by many managers in most of the organizations. The criticality takes significance especially in the case of nurses because their performance affects the result of the medication being imparted to the patients. This research aims to investigate if there is significant impact of job stress on nurse performance. Keywords: Job Satisfaction, Job Stress, Job Performance Introduction The health care industry is a dynamic industry with employees in it always facing issues with long working hours, ethical dilemmas and conflicting demands. Nurses often have to work on extended work hours and shifts. These physical and psychological demands of the profession of nursing often leads to high job stress amongst nurses. Employee performance on the job is a function of three factors working together: effort, skills and abilities and the work environment. Skills is the set of abilities and knowledge possessed by the employee whereas effort signifies the amount of hard work the employee puts into the job (Levey, 2001). Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework of a research includes: the variables under study, the nature of relationship between the two and the reason for the same, study of other variables that might affect the outcome of the relationship and a schematic diagram showing the various relationships (Sekara, 2009). The two central variables under study in this study are: job stress and employee performance. There have been many definitions for stress. Michie (2002) defines stress as the psychological and physical state of a human when the resources available with the individual are not sufficient to manage with the demands and pressures of the situation. Although stress can not be said to be harmful in all the cases, it does seem to have significant negative effects. For success it is necessary that organizations provide quality services efficiently. In this scenario, job stress becomes a very important variable to be studied. There have been many factors that may result in employee being stressful at the job. Some of the reasons that may lead to stress at work include: poor physical working conditions, time pressures, work overload, role ambiguity, role conflict, dissatisfaction with the appraisal process, poor relationships with the manager or the subordinate or absence of decision making powers (Michie, 2002). Besides these, issues at home such as financial problems, or life crisis can also lead to job stress. The second important variable that needs study is the employee performance. Job stress often has significant impact on the employee morale. Employee morale affects the motivation levels of the employees and the effort put forth by them. These in turn impact the employee performance. Therefore, it can be expected that there is a significant relationship between employee performance and job stress. Previous researches in the area have suggested that the relation is negative in nature indicating that high stress results in poor performance. At the same time, it is worth noting that nurse performance will also affect job stress. Nurses who are not able to perform well in their jobs will feel stressed out as a result of peer pressure. Thus the relationship between the two can be thought of as a two way relation with each variable affecting the second. Besides these two variables: job stress and employee performance, there are many other variables which might affect the outcome of the relationship. One such variable is the age and the experience of the nurses. With experience, nurses can be expected to be more efficient in their job and less stressful. Another factor that may affect both the variables is the shift of the nurses. A nurse working in irregular shifts will feel more stressed out and hence will be less efficient. In addition performance is significantly dependent on the skills. The resulting framework in which this research fits is as shown in the diagram below: Figure 1: The theoretical framework for the research Hypothesis The main objective of this research is to find out if there is significant relationship between the two variables: job stress and employee performance amongst nurses. It is hypothesized that increased job stress leads to reduced performance within nurses. The hypothesis can be stated as: “Increased job stress results in decreased performance by nurses” Research Design The research design chosen shall be in line with the research scope and objectives. The design chosen should be such that it presents the true picture to the researcher. The research design specifies the various parameters such as the samples, the measurement, the methods of assignment, the treatment etc. (William, 2006). There are various tools that can be used to measure the stress levels, but for the purpose of this research, the author proposes to develop one using a questionnaire. For the purpose of this research, we will be using a survey questionnaire to be filled by nurses to measure the stress levels. The items of the questionnaire will be related to all the components of job that might result in stress such as poor physical working conditions, time pressures, work overload, role ambiguity, role conflict, dissatisfaction with the appraisal process, poor relationships with the manager or the subordinate or absence of decision making powers and so on. The responses to these items will be used to find out the stress index of nurses. We will also use a performance management tool to measure the performance of the nurses. The managers of the nurses will be asked to give performance rating for the nurses during the research. The ratings from the performance appraisal and the stress index will then be analyzed to check for the presence of any relationship between the two. The Study Setting We will target a local hospital which works in different shifts and has a significantly large pool of nurses. We will administer the stress questionnaire on the nurses. We will also take their last performance ratings from their managers. We will first take a session for all the nurses working in different shifts and explain to them the significance of the research. All the questions will be explained to the nurses once. The nurses will then be asked to fill out the questionnaires. All the nurses’ performance rating will be taken from their managers. Quantitative Techniques used: The data collected will be analyzed using SPSS 15.0. In order to confirm the reliability of the tools developed, we will make use of Cronbach’s alpha. The analysis will be made through statistical technques such as descriptive statistics, and Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient which will be used to study the degree and the nature of relationship (Panneerselvam, 2004). Time Horizon of the study The study will be made in such a way that it covers all the shifts. It will be tried that all the shifts of nurses are covered within 2 days of de-briefing and questioning. Ethical Implications of the study The research design chosen raises a large number of ethical concerns. It will be made sure that the data as collected will be used solely for the purpose of this research only. We will have confidentiality clauses with all the questionnaires. The performance rating assigned by the managers is very sensitive and hence the name of the nurse will not be disclosed. In order to link the response to the performance rating of the correct system, we will use a series of numbers and put the sets of the two in envelopes. Conclusion On the basis of the theoretical background and the literature analysis, it can be said that there is significant relationship between job stress and performance is incorrect. However, it cannot be said that it conclusively demonstrates, beyond a shadow of a doubt that job-related stress and job performance are directly linked. Moreover, it does suggest that stress level plays a significant part in a nurse’s job performance and job satisfaction. Further research is needed in the area to validate this relation. The quantitative study on the relationship between stress levels and performance amongst nurses is a step towards the same direction. References Levey RE. (2001). Sources of stress for residents and recommendations for programs to assist them. Acad Med Vol76:142–50. Michie S. (2002). Causes and management of stress at work. Occup Environ Med Vol 59: 67–72. Panneerselvam, R. (2004). Research Methodology, Eastern Economy ed. Prentice Hall India. Sekaran, U. (2009). Research Methods For Business: A Skill Building Approach, 4th ed, pg: 98. Wiley India. William, M.K.T., 2006. Design. Research Methods Knowledge Base [Online]. Available at: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/design.php [Last Accessed on: 28th August, 2009]. Read More