International Journal of Academic Research and Development 260 International Journal of Academic Research and Development ISSN: 2455-4197 Impact Factor: RJIF 5.22 www.academicsjournal.com Volume 3; Issue 3; May 2018; Page No. 260-266 Prevalence and associated factors of work related stress among nurses working in worabe comprehensive and specialized hospital, south west Ethiopia Susan Anand 1 , Abdil Mejid 2 1 Ph.D., Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia 2 B.Sc N, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia Abstract Unmanaged stress leads to high levels of employee dissatisfaction, illness, absenteeism, high turnover, and decreased productivity that compromise provision of quality service to clients. Nurses are direct caregivers who serve a hospital twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Job related stress in nurses continues to be an area of great interest to the profession, particularly as stress affects the health of the nurses and has direct impact on the quality of care rendered to patients as well as having an economic burden on the community. Institution based cross sectional survey was carried out from March to April, 2017, in order to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with work related stress among nurses working in Worabe Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia. Self administered questionnaire were distributed to 138 nurses in the hospital, who were randomly selected for the study. Statistical software SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data. Statistical association between work related stress and selected variables was determined by Chi-square test, with P value< 0.05 considered to be statistically significant. Conclusion: A little more than half, 56.3% nurses at Worabe Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital were stressed at work place. Sex, age, religion, ethnicity, marital status, child rearing, professional qualification, monthly salary, work experience and department of work were associated with work related stress. Keywords: work related stress, prevalence, nurses Introduction Over the years stress continues to be an increasing problem in organizations [1] . And it has become a concern for workers, employers, occupational health and safety regulators, and workers' compensation programs [2] . Unlike work pressure which is seen as positive and needed to improve performance, when the sources of pressure become too frequent without time to recover, or when just one source of pressure is beyond individual’s coping ability, it is termed as work related stress [3] . Stress varies in situations and among individuals and if unmanaged can undermine the achievement of goals, both for individuals and for organizations. Particular concern has been expressed for the effects of stress on health-care professionals and, in particular, on nurses [4] . Compared to other health professionals nurses are more stressed at work [5] and this was confirmed in a study which found 66% of nurses with high work-related burnout [6] . In fact, the review by Smitha Shine quoted a survey conducted in India by Sunday Times newspaper in 1997, found nursing was the sixth most stressful profession [7] . Stress arising from work is a common cause for dissatisfaction with one’s work. Studies done across USA, Canada, England, Scotland and Germany found 41% of the hospital nurses were dissatisfied with their job [8] . In Ethiopia, cross-sectional study conducted in 2012 to determine prevalence of work related stress among nurses and the associated factors showed that out of 343nurses, 37.8% were experiencing occupational stress [9] . Stress levels revealed, 34% nurses had moderate stress and 32.7% had high levels of stress [10] . Unmanaged stress from working with people under difficult or demanding conditions affects health of any individual [11] . Out of 73.59% of the nurses suffering from significant stress varying in severity, even moderate levels of stress were linked to psychosomatic illnesses [12] . In Gaza, Palestine, 63% nurses showed evidence of psychological distress, depression (59.7 %,) and trauma (69.4%) were also revealed in the study [13] . Chronic stress at work affects patient care, hospitals as well as personal and professional life of nurses. While in developed countries of Europe, reduced efficiency, decreased capacity to perform, a lack of concern for the organization and colleagues were consequences of unmanaged work related stress among nurses [14] . Sources of stress appear to be more or less similar across the globe. Common sources of stress arising from work load and role-based factors such as lack of power, role ambiguity, and role conflict. Threats to career development and achievement, including threat of redundancy, being undervalued and unclear promotion prospects have been perceived as stressful (14). Other sources of stress reported are death of patient, uncertainty about the patient’s treatment and work load [10] . Lack of drugs and equipments required for nursing care, performing procedures that patients experience as painful and staff shortage on the unit [1, 15] . Materials and Methods The study was conducted between March and April 2017 at