Factors and Coping Strategy of Stress Among Emergency Room Nurses in Saudi Arabia

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
FACTORS AND COPING STRATEGY OF STRESS AMONG THE EMERGENCY
ROOM NURSES IN SAUDI ARABIA.
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................9
1.2 Problem Statement.........................................................................................................10
1.3 Objective of the Study....................................................................................................10
1.4 Research Questions........................................................................................................11
1.5 Significance of the Study...............................................................................................11
1.6 Limitations of the Study.................................................................................................12
1.7 Operational Definitions..................................................................................................12
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE...........................................................................13
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY...........................................................................................16
3.2 Setting of the Study........................................................................................................16
3.3 Population......................................................................................................................17
3.5 Sampling Criteria...........................................................................................................17
3.6 Sample and Its Size........................................................................................................17
3.7 Variables........................................................................................................................18
3.8 Instrument......................................................................................................................18
3.9 Validity and Reliability..................................................................................................19
3.10 Pilot Study....................................................................................................................20
3.11 Data Collection Procedure...........................................................................................20
3.12 Data Analysis...............................................................................................................21
3.13 Ethical Considerations.................................................................................................21

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
CHAPTER 4: EXPECTED RESULTS....................................................................................21
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION..............................................................22
References................................................................................................................................24
Appendices Appendix 1: Gantt Chart.....................................................................................27

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Stress is often identified in terms of the mental, physical and the emotional responses
that shows that an individual is stressed. It can also be referred to be as the sum of the metal
physical and emotional strains that results from the interaction with the people or with their
environment in which they live in (Attar 2014). Lots of studies have been carried out for the
examination of the stress of the nurses especially in the hospital or health care setting.
Working in an emergency duty environment, there are often incidences of threats and several
other causes of experiences which lead to the development of stress at work for the nurses
engaged in duty in the emergency department of the hospitals (Eswi, Radi and Youssri 2013).
This includes the job roles like provision of care to the dying, ambiguity of the roles, along
with the conflicts arising with the other health personnel in addition to career planning. As a
result this work stress often escalates as the most severe occupational health hazards that one
faces while working that leads to the reduction of satisfaction among the workers along with
the decrease of their productivity (Al-Makhaita, Sabra and Hafez 2014). This often leads to
the effect on the turnover of the employees. The continuous work stress at work ends up in
emotional problems which the nurses the face on a daily basis along with worker burnout due
to over stress that might also effect physically (Hamaideh, Al-Omari and Al-Modallal 2017).
The nursing staff who are involved in the emergency wards are most of time subjected to
elevated stress levels since most of the time they are challenged by the fast changing
environment around them. Studies conducted in respect to this have shown that medical
errors are directly proportional to the work stress faced and most of the time these are
preventable errors (Keriri 2013).

4RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1.2 Problem Statement
It has been seen that about more that 70% of the nursing workforce working in the health care
sector in Saudi America belong to some foreign country and this factor elevates the stress in
respect to their professional work (Lamadah and Sayed 2014). Previously conducted research
has shown that there is an existence of burnout syndrome in the nurses working the
emergency department in the hospitals of Saudi Arabia (Mosadeghrad 2013). The studies
have also reported that the prevalence of the burnout syndrome is mostly seen in Saudi
Arabia in comparison to the other countries since most here the evolution to the nursing
profession has been neglected (Al Hosis, Mersal and Keshk 2013). Very little had been done
in terms of improvement of the working situations and also for the improvement of the self–
esteem of the nurses. This as a result has affected the nursing staff thus intriguing the rise of
stress and their critical nature of their work. This also ended up in shortage of staff during
emergency situations where very few nurses were available for the care of patients (Al-
Makhaita, Sabra and Hafez 2014). All this resulted in the negative health conditions which
impacted the personal well-being of the individual nurses and therefore reducing the efficacy
and the quality of the care of the patients.
1.3 Objective of the Study
The study aims to investigate the following aspects:
 Determination of the sources of stress in the emergency wards of the hospitals of
Saudi Arabia
 The level to which the stress has an impact on the work condition of the nurses

5RESEARCH PROPOSAL
 The strategies to cope up with the prevalent stress conditions
1.4 Research Questions
The research questions developed for this study are as follows:
 What are the significant factors or rather the sources of stress that is prevalent in the
emergency wards of the hospitals present in Saudi Arabia?
 To what level or what extend does the extent of professional stress is affected by the
nurses? Is it the socio-demographic variable and job variables or any other factor?
 What strategies should be undertaken in order to cope up with the work stress that the
nurses are facing on a daily basis? Additionally what is the relationship between the
stress and the outcomes that is anticipated?
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study is quite significant in terms that much research is not carried out in the
context of nurse work-stress and burnout in the Saudi Arabian setting therefore this study
helps to show the factors that are responsible for the prevalent conditions of stress (AbuRuz
2014). The staffs who are suffering from this heightened condition of stress might end up in
suffering from burnout syndrome; therefore this study helps to explore the outcomes that are
related to work stress (Aboshaiqah 2016). This study is also significant in terms that it
compares the expatriate nurses and ethnic Saudi Arabian nurses. Since the amount of stress
depends on the area the nurses are working in therefore this study helps to identify the kind of
stress that is prevalent in the emergency wards (Al Sareai et al. 2013).
1.6 Limitations of the Study