Arbeitsbedingter Stress in der Pflege aus der Sicht von Führungspersonen: eine qualitative Inhaltsanalyse

Work-related stress is a leading cause of early departure from the nursing profession. Although it is clear that
managers have great influence on the level of stress their employees experience, the importance people in
management positions in nursing put on reducing stress of their employees has not yet been investigated. This paper
provides an overview of how managers perceive work-related stress among nurses and the role they attribute to
themselves in reducing this stress. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews. Interview
participants were four managers from lower-level, five from middle-level, and three from upper-level nursing
management. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. The results show that work stress is
recognized by the managers but recorded differently. Measures carried out by management for stress reduction are
divided into five fields of action. Conditions should be created to reduce barriers that currently limit the scope of
action of the nursing managers. Instruments for objectively measuring the stress situation among nursing
professionals could help identify work stress at an early stage and address it in a goal-oriented manner.