Abstract

Background: Nursing-a crucial human service occupation-involves significant mental health risk. Nurses’ mental health status is impacted by both job- and family-related stress. Nurses employed at home healthcare and nursing homes tend to be older than hospital nurses; therefore, family-related stress may vary depending on their workplace.
Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the difference in the magnitude of the impact of job- and family- related stress on nurses’ mental health status, and identify the differences among factors affecting mental health of nurses working at hospital, home healthcare, and nursing homes.
Methods: This cross-sectional study included nurses from hospitals, home healthcare facilities, and nursing homes in Japan. Participants responded to a questionnaire that measured their job- and family- related stress, as well as mental health status. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed wherein, the independent variables were job-related stress factors (job demand, job control, and job support) and family-related stress factors(work–family culture, family stress, and work–family conflict). Additionally, mental health level (GHQ-12 score) was the dependent variable.
Results: Job- and family-related stress factors showed similar impact on all nurses. The factors with the greatest impact was job demand, followed by job control. Focusing on nurses’ workplace revealed that work-family culture and family stress did not affect hospital nurses’ mental health. Only job demand indicated a weak prediction among job-related stress variables, whereas family-related stress (family stress, work-family culture, and work–family conflict) significantly impacted the mental health status of home healthcare nurses.
Conclusion: Interventions to reduce family-related stress may be effective in improving nurses’ mental health. Such interventions may be especially effective for home healthcare nurses.