OCCUPATIONAL WORK STRESS AMONG HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS IN SELECTED PRIMARY HEALTH CARE FACILITIES IN GOMBE METROPOLIS, GOMBE-NIGERIA

Abstract

Occupational work stress remains a public health care challenge facing health care professionals in Nigeria. This is due to the fact that, there is less effort made by governments and managements of public health care facilities to address the challenge especially with regards to insufficient staff strength and poor working conditions among other several challenges. This study was undertaken to achieve the following objectives; to examine the causes of occupational work stress among health care professionals, and to identify the consequences of occupational work stress on performance of health care professionals in selected primary health care facilities in Gombe metropolis. The study employed a descriptive research method and data was collected from a sample of 205 health care workers from the population of 236 in the selected primary health care facilities using Krejcie and Morgan Sample Size Calculator with margin of error of 5% and 95% confidence level. The data was analysed using statistical package for the social sciences (version 21). The findings of the study indicated that, the major causes of occupational work stress include overcrowding of patients, family pressure, insufficient staff strength, poor working conditions and lack of health care facilities among others. Furthermore, the major consequences of occupational work stress on performance of health care personnel also include anxiety and frustration on the part of health care personnel, failure to give required medical attention to patients, inability to achieve target result and internal conflict among health care personnel in the study clinics. The study recommended the needs to provide more funding to primary health care facilities especially that, majority of the citizens who are less privileged attend the facilities for medical services, provision of health care facilities and adequate working tools among others.  This will help in addressing some of the major problems affecting the development and sustainability of primary health care facilities in providing health care services to the less privileged class of citizens.