Last update:
05-Aug-2017

OBJECTIVE To provide an overview of occupational stress in health care professionals during the economic crisis.

METHOD The study was conducted by means of a questionnaire which was completed by various health care professionals (midwives, psychologists, nurses, etc.). The questionnaire includes 30 questions in the form of the Likert scale. Statistical analysis was performed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20.0, using dispersion ANOVA analysis, cross-tabulation and Chi-square, Kolmogorov-Smirnof and Shapiro-Wilks testing.

RESULTS Most of the respondents had a degree and were aged from 39 to 49 years; 77.0% were women and 79.6% had permanent positions. The main results of the survey indicated that 85.8% of employees were experiencing stress and the fear of losing their position due to the economic crisis, while 18.8% had experienced a work-related accident due to work-related stress. Specifically, 77.3% stated that feeling responsible for the lives of their patients created stress, 72.6% that they returned home from work very tired; 59.3% that they felt insecure about maintaining their permanent position, 57.5% that at the end of the work day they felt exhausted. In addition, 57.2% perceived that if a job was not done well there would be repercussions, and 50% felt that the time they had available was limited. The results indicated that the insecurity felt in maintaining their permanent work position was directly linked to the perception that everything must be done well.

CONCLUSIONS The financial crisis in Greece is associated with insecurity and increased work stress in health professionals. It is therefore necessary for appropriate measures to be taken to manage stress in health care professionals.

Key words: Financial crisis, Occupational stress and mental-physical health, Occupational stress in health professionals, Work anxiety.