Introduction: Stress is one of the main factors affecting one's efficiency as well as staff health and quality of nursing services. Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) can be stressful environments for nurses, infants and families as well. Since there is no evidence in this regard in Iran, the present study aimed to determine stress levels related to care delivering in NICU from the viewpoint of nurses in NICUs of East Azerbaijan Province, Iran during 2011.
Methods: This was a descriptive study including a purposive sample of 110 nurses working in NICUs of hospitals in East Azerbaijan Province. The data collection tool was a self-report questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were assessed by content validity and Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α = 0.84).
Results: According to factor analysis, the stressors included environmental and nurse and human factors. Stress sources in total and separately in each category were reported as moderate. The mean and 95% confidence interval of the factors in the categories were 2.75 (0.84); 2.59-2.91 and 3.21 (0.72); 3.07-3.35, respectively. Therefore, human factors caused significantly higher levels of stress compared to environmental factors (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Stressors involved in NICU nursing include environmental and human factors. Planning to remove or reduce their impact can improve the quality of nursing services in intensive care units and, thus, decrease the adverse effects of stress on workers.
Keywords: Care; Neonatal intensive care unit; Nurse; Stress.