PREDICTION OF LEVEL OF AGGRESSION AND INTERPERSONAL PROBLEMS IN ED NURSES BASED ON THEIR OCCUPATIONAL STRESS

The aggression and interpersonal problems in nurses can adversely influence the
quality of care in the health care system, especially in Emergency Departments (EDs) that the nurses’
level of occupational stress is higher than others. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate if the ED
nurses' level of aggression and interpersonal problems can be predicted based on their occupational
stress.
Materials & Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 134 nurses in EDs of both
Rasool Akram university hospital and Hasheminejad university hospital in Tehran, Iran. The
participants were selected by complete enumeration. The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP),
occupational stress scale and Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) were used for collecting the data.
Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to the data.
Results: It was found that the nurses' occupational stress significantly predicted their aggressive
tendencies (R2=.051, F=7.14, p<.008). Furthermore, there was no statistically significant correlation
between nurses' occupational stress and their interpersonal problems (p=.181).
Conclusion: The results showed that the tendency to aggression in ED nurses can be predicted based on
their occupational stress. Therefore, the healthcare systems’ officials would benefit from taking proper
actions in this area