Yawen Cheng and colleagues from Harvard University studied a group of 21,000 nurses, whose jobs were the most demanding and who had little control over their work situation. They found that they after four years, these women were more likely to report symptoms of anxiety and depression, have difficulty performing daily activities such as stair climbing and carrying groceries, and reported lower energy levels. Nurses in the highest third of job demands and the lowest third of job control reported the worst health. Those who had the most control over their jobs and felt the fewest job demands reported the best health status, researchers found. The report suggests that efforts to lower job stress should focus on the job itself and not the individual. They encourage hospitals and healthcare managers can increase the amount of control in nurses’ jobs by increasing flexibility of work schedules, reducing the amount of forced over-time, and increasing the amount of decision autonomy. The team suggests that while the findings apply mainly to female nurses, the model of job stress is applicable across a wide range of occupations.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: British Medical Journal 2000;320:1432-1436
