Mapping Work-Related Stress and Job Satisfaction Among Critical Care Nurses – A Scoping Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55712/qep7kr82Keywords:
Critical Care Nursing, Occupational Stress, Job Satisfaction, Burnout, Professional Workload, Organisational Culture, Staff RetentionAbstract
Critical care nurses operate in high-pressure, high-demand environments where work-related stress is common. Work stress is a recognised factor which negatively affects job satisfaction. This scoping review maps the existing quantitative evidence on job satisfaction and the relationship between work-related stress and job satisfaction among critical care nurses, using the Population-Concept-Context (PCC) framework: critical care nurses (Population); work-related stress and job satisfaction (Concept); intensive care, critical care, and emergency care units (Context). Method: A scoping review was conducted using the British Nursing Database, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane, and PubMed to identify primary research articles published in English between January 2015 and December 2024. As a deliberate scope boundary, eligible studies were restricted to quantitative primary research; eleven such studies were selected and charted. Results: The charted studies indicate that work-related stress is consistently negatively associated with nurses' physical and mental well-being. Severe levels of stress were consistently associated with higher levels of burnout and lower job satisfaction across the included studies. Workplace environment, workload, leadership styles, and organisational policies were the factors most frequently examined in relation to job satisfaction. Mapping these studies also highlighted evidence gaps, including limited quantitative, qualitative and grey literature, predominantly cross-sectional designs, and uneven geographic coverage. The review's findings point to the potential value of professional development programmes to help critical care nurses manage stress; commonly suggested organisational levers include stress management training, supportive team environments, flexible scheduling, clear communication, safety-orientated, well-resourced work environments, and nurse engagement in decision-making. Addressing these factors is relevant to enhancing the well-being and performance of critical care nurses and, in turn, patient care outcomes.
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