The healthcare field is riddled with various types of stressors. The nature of healthcare professionals’ work, including caring for patients with very high expectations and having to deal with death, are some of the root causes of practitioners’ stresses (Familoni, 2008; Starc, 2018). Another type of stressor common in the healthcare field is the demanding nature of the work. Most healthcare institutions are inadequately staffed (Starc, 2018). Consequently, health practitioners have to handle the ensuing work overload (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2008). Often, they work for long hours without adequate rest, alternating between night and day shifts. The unpredictability and the extremity of some of the situations and conditions handled by practitioners is the other stressor faced in the health environment (CDC, 2008). A hostile work environment comprising inadequate and out-dated equipment, and inappropriate bureaucracies is also a cause for stress for health professionals (Familoni, 2008) . Interpersonal conflicts amongst the healthcare profiles, e.g., amongst the nurses and physicians, are also a cause for stress.
The various types of stressors elaborated above have been shown to adversely affect healthcare professionals’ health and wellness. Work overload and uncertainties in the job environment make the professionals experience job strain, which consequently affects their physical and mental health (Spielman et al., 2014) . Some of the health issues linked to this occurrence include elevated risk of hypertension, uncontrolled weight loss or gain, and reoccurrence of cardiovascular disease after an initial heart attack (Spielman et al., 2014) . A chronically stressful job environment is also associated with job burnout, a phenomenon characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment. Job burnout is linked to the occurrence of depression among healthcare professionals.
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Reducing the stress levels in healthcare may take the two-pronged approach of problem-solving and a focus on emotional well-being. The problem-focused style would be used to solve the organizational stressors such as inadequate staffing, interpersonal conflicts, and bureaucracies (Spielman et al., 2014) . The solution to these problems could help reduce the stress levels amongst healthcare professionals. The emotion-focused style involves avoiding, minimizing, and detaching from the stressors (Spielman et al., 2014) . Some of the techniques that may be used to ensure emotional well-being include engaging in regular physical exercise, meditating, and sleeping for adequate hours (Spielman et al., 2014) . These techniques have been declared useful in reducing stress levels.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2008). Exposure to stress: Occupational hazards in hospitals [Ebook]. Retrieved 31 December 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2008-136/pdfs/2008-136.pdf.
Familoni O. B. (2008). An overview of stress in medical practice. African health sciences , 8 (1), 6–7.
Spielman, R., Dumper, K., Jenkins, W., Lacombe, A., Lovett, M., & Perlmutter, M. (2014). 14.2 Stressors - Psychology | OpenStax . Openstax.org. Retrieved 31 December 2020, from https://openstax.org/books/psychology/pages/14-2-stressors .
Starc, J. (2018). Stress factors among nurses at the primary and secondary level of public sector health care: The case of Slovenia. Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences , 6 (2), 416-422. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2018.100
