Work‐related stress in health service employees

Levels of work‐related stress were examined in 1,176 employees from the major occupational groups of one large health authority in the UK as a precursor to devising stress management strategies. The six occupational groups (administrative and clerical staff, ancillary personnel, professions allied to medicine, doctors and ward‐and community‐based nurses) were compared and the results were used as a basis for suggesting opportunities for management to initiate a range of stress management interventions. The framework suggested by Cox was used, which suggests that the target for intervention can be either the individual or organization and that there are three levels: prevention;tackling stressors at work; and helping individuals cope with problems at work. While stress was found to be a significant problem across all occupational groups in the study and their experience of stress has many similarities, the stress management solutions need to be tailored to the needs of each occupational group.