RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the factors which cause stress at work among hospital nursing staff according to their socio-demographic and professional characteristics and their affects on psychological welfare. METHODS: A cross study carried out on a randomly chosen group of 201 nursing professionals composed of nurses and nurses aides from a general public hospital in the city of Valencia. The data was gathered by means of a self-administered questionnaire. To measure the variable response, psychological welfare, The Goldberg General Health 28 item version questionnaire, GHQ-28, was used. Work stress factors were evaluated by means of a scale valid for our cultural environment, Spain,: the Nursing Stress Scale, NSS, which consists of 34 items having a range from 0 to 102. In addition, information about diverse socio-demographic and professional variables were gathered. The authors carried out a simple analysis on all the data obtained. RESULTS: The scores registered on the work stress factors scale were lower for nursing professionals older than 55 and for those who have more than 20 years experience in their service, with a medium of 23.28 (IC 95% = 9.87-54.84) and 25.29 (IC 95% = 11.80-54.22) respectively. On the other hand, the medium was higher for nurses with a medium of 34.16 (IC: 15.29-76.29) in comparison to the score for nurses aides. The total score on the work stress factors scale was higher in the "probable situations" of psychological stress with a medium of 42.40 (IC 95% = 21.35-84.21). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrate that a higher level exposure to work stress factors lowers the psychological welfare among nursing staff.