The relationships between job stress, job performance, and social support among hospital nurses

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of job-related stress on job performance among hospital nurses, and the effect of social support from coworkers and supervisors on the stress-performance relationship. The present study used a correaltional descriptive survey design. Data were collected using an electronic structured questionnaire that was posted on a web site.; The study sample consisted of 303 hospital nurses who were accessible over the Internet. Two hundred sixty three subjects were Americans, while 40 were from Britain, Canada, and other countries. All the participants were currently working as hospital staff nurses or had worked at least for six months in the last three years. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlations, chi-squares, t-tests, analysis of variance procedures, and hierarchical regression techniques were utilized to analyze the data.; The data analysis revealed that increased level of perceived social support from co-workers and supervisors enhanced the level of reported job performance and decreased the level of reported job stress. It also showed that nurses who reported moderate levels of job stress felt that they performed their job less well than those who reported low or high levels of job stress. The later results suggest that the association between job stress and job performance is better explained by the U-shaped relationship rather than the linear relation. Moreover, the results showed that nurses who worked in the emergency department reported performing lower than nurses who worked in other units.; Implications from this study point to the importance of (1) adopting strategies that demonstrate more social support in the workplace for nurses, and (2) fostering cooperation, social interaction concepts and effective coping mechanisms among nursing students. Students who learn the importance of social integration during their education might understand better the significance of co-worker and supervisor support in the workplace. The findings also attest to the need for further research to test the U-shaped relationship between job stress and job performance.