Mental Health and Occupational Stress Among Nursing Professionals
Summary
Nursing professionals face significant challenges to their mental health driven by high workloads, irregular schedules and emotionally demanding environments. Studies across diverse health systems report elevated rates of anxiety, depression and stress compared with general populations, with prevalence often exceeding 30–40%. Key occupational stressors include extended working hours, shift patterns, high patient acuity and insufficient staffing. Chronic exposure to these demands may lead to burnout, characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and diminished professional efficacy, which in turn undermines patient safety and staff retention. Individual factors such as low self-efficacy, limited social support and pre-existing health conditions exacerbate vulnerability to adverse psychological outcomes. Interventions ranging from organisational reforms—such as optimised rostering, adequate rest breaks and staffing adjustments—to individual-level programmes promoting resilience, peer support and mental health literacy have shown promise. Given the global nursing shortage and the critical role of nurses in healthcare delivery, addressing mental health and occupational stress is imperative for sustaining workforce capacity, improving care quality and safeguarding both professional wellbeing and patient outcomes.
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Mental Health and Occupational Stress Among Nursing Professionals publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in mental health and occupational stress among nursing professionals across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Occupational stress: Psychological strain resulting from job demands, role conflicts and lack of resources at work causing emotional and physical tension.
Burnout: A syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment due to chronic workplace stress.
Self-efficacy: An individual’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviours necessary to produce specific performance attainments.
Perceived social support: The subjective appraisal of support available from family, friends and colleagues.
References
- Association between long working hours and mental health among nurses in China under COVID-19 pandemic: based on a large cross-sectional study. BMC Psychiatry (2023).
- Moderating effects of perceived social support on self-efficacy and psychological well-being of Chinese nurses: a cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Public Health (2023).
- Prevalence and determinants of depression, anxiety and stress among psychiatric nurses in Ghana: a cross-sectional study. BMC Nursing (2022).
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