Determinants of Workplace Stress among Healthcare Professionals in Ghana: An Empirical Analysis
Mary Ann Yeboah, Mary Opokua Ansong, Henry Asante Antwi, Ethel Yiranbon, Francis Anyan, Francis Gyebil
Abstract
There is considerable evidence that the stress inherent in health care negatively impacts health care
professionals. Stress in medical practice has always been a topical issue. This is partly because medical service
involves taking care of other peoples' lives therefore mistakes or errors could be costly and sometimes
irreversible. It is thus expected that the medical doctors, nurses and other medical staff must be in a perfect state
of mind devoid of morbid worries and anxieties. Our study examines the relationships between six key
organisational factors (demand, control, support, relationships, change, and role conditions) and stress among
healthcare professional in a teaching hospital in Ghana. The UK Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE)
Management Standards (MS) model of stress model was adopted and modified as our key measurement in our
questionnaire. Data was collected from 453 healthcare professionals from a teaching hospital in Ghana.
Three sequential steps of using linear regression analysis to identify the causes of stress among a spectrum of
human resource personnel, selected from all the main departments of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital was
outlined. Our study reveals that, all the six elements (demand factors, control factors, support factors, relationships
factors, change factors and role factors) that have been analysed have significant impact on employees stress
though, they do not impact on employees in the same measure. We noted that specialist physicians, general
practitioners/family physicians, and registered nurses (excluding supervisors and head nurses) had a statistically
elevated likelihood of work stress relative to other health care providers. We have provided policy direction to
support stress management in healthcare settings such as the case of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana
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