The Effect of an Educational Program on Head Nurses' Knowledge Regarding Work Stress and its Management

Background: Modern living has brought with it, not only innumerable means of comfort, but also a plethora of demands that tax human body and mind. Nowadays, everyone talks about stress. It is cutting across all socioeconomic groups of population and becoming the great leveler. Not only just high pressure executives are its key victims but it also includes labourers, slum dwellers, working women, businessmen, professionals and even children. Stress is an inevitable and unavoidable component of life due to increasing complexities and competitiveness in living standards. Aim :This study Aimed  to investigate the impact of an educational program on head nurses' knowledge regarding work stress and its management. Subjects and methods:  A quasi- experimental design  was used to conduct this study, it was conducted in all units at four hospitals affiliated to The Ministry of Health, namely: Port- Said general hospital, Port- Fouad general hospital, El- Naser hospital, and El-Zohour hospital, study sample composed of 30 head nurses . Data were collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of two parts, the first part aimed to collect data related to personal and  occupational characteristics of studied head nurses, the second part is the head nurses’ knowledge test questionnaire aiming to assess the knowledge of head nurses regarding work stress and its management. Results: The results of the present study revealed   a significant improvement of head nurses' knowledge, and practice related to work stress and its management in both immediate post & 3 months after training program compared with pre-intervention program phase. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that, the head nurses working in all patient care units at four hospitals had   inadequate knowledge regarding work stress and its management before implementation of the training program. After implementation of the educational program, there was significant improvement and positive impact on the head nurses' levels of knowledge about work stress and its management. It was recommended to conduct continuous and regular inservice educational programs and other development activities such as conferences, seminars, and workshops to achieve the application of work stress management to improve the head nurses’ competency level.