This descriptive, correlation, and cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the presence of occupational stress among nursing professionals working in surgical settings and to investigate relations between occupational stress and the work characteristics. The Demand-Control Model proposed by Karasek was used to evaluate occupational stress. The sample was composed of 211 nursing professionals from 11 hospitals located in the city of Londrina-PR, Brazil. A questionnaire regarding socio-demographic and professional data and the Job Stress Scale were applied. Data was collected from April to November, 2007. Among the participants, most were auxiliary nurses (62.6%), women (86.7%), and married (54.0%). The average age was 40 years. The average for Demand, Control, and Social Support dimensions was 14.8 (S.D.=2.4), 16.5 (S.D.=2.3) and 18.7 (S.D.=2.8), respectively. Considering the results related to the Job Stress Scale, the Demand dimension showed a statistically significant association with the professional category (p=0.01), and Control showed a statistically significant association with the type of hospital, professional category, and weekly working hours (p<0.05).
Stress; Nursing; Surgicenters
