The Association between Sociodemographic Characteristics, Creativity and Occupational Stress among Nurses Working in Ilam Hospitals, Iran (2019)

Background: Nursing occupation can be stressful, with various practical factors, and nurse creativity plays a significant role in clinical nursing success. This study aims to determine nurses' association of socio-demographic characteristics and creativity with occupational stress. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 200 nurses working in teaching hospitals in Ilam, Iran in 2019. Sampling was performed by the simple random method. Data collection tools included socio-demographic, job stress, and Abedi creativity questionnaire (CT). Data analysis was performed using SPSS software v.21. One-way ANOVA and independent t-test were used to compare the mean occupational stress scores among different sociodemographic groups. The Pearson correlation test investigated the associations between occupational stress and creativity, and a general linear model was used to determine a correlation between occupational stress and soci-demographic characteristics. Results: About 73% of nurses had low and 25% had no occupational stress (score: >3.5), There was correlation between occupational stress and creativity (p>0.001, r= 0.25) and sub-domains: fluidity (p> 0.001, r= 0.26), innovation (p= 0.003, r= 0.20), and flexibility (r = 0.25, p <0.001). There was significant correlation between occupational stress and socio-demographic characteristics, including education status, work experience, number of night shifts per month, and satisfaction with hospital employment. Conclusion: we concluded that health managers should help with spoting creativity to solve health system problems by providing a stress-free environment.