Psychological working conditions and predictors of occupational stress among nurses, Salaga Government Hospital, Ghana, 2016

Introduction: occupational stress is a recognized health problem among nurses. Globally, its prevalence varies between 9.2% and 68.0%. It detracts from nurses' quality of life and efficiency of job performance. In Ghana, we do not know the important contributory factors to this problem. Our study sought to identify the important predictors of occupational stress among nurses.Methods: in January 2016, we conducted an institutional-based survey among nurses of Salaga Government Hospital. They completed a five-point Likert type questionnaire adopted from the British Psychological Working Conditions Survey, and the Nurse Stress Index. Across 30 predictor variables, a mean score of 4.00 to 5.00 represented high to extreme occupational stress. We performed bivariate and multivariate analyses to identify important predictors of occupational stress at 95% confidence level.Results: of 167 nurses, 58.1% (97) were females. Respondents who experienced high to extreme stress levels had a 2.3 times odds of reporting sickness absence (CI: 1.03-5.14). Sources of occupational stress included: manual lifting of patients and pieces of equipment (OR: 16.23; CI: 6.28 - 41.92), the risks of acquiring infections (OR: 14.67; CI 5.90 - 36.46), receiving feedback only upon unsatisfactory performance (OR: 28.00; CI: 9.72 - 80.64), and inadequate opportunities for continuous professional development (OR: 63.50; CI: 19.99 - 201.75).Conclusion: the working conditions of nurses were stressful. The most significant predictors of occupational stress were poor supportive supervision by superiors, lack of adequate skills to perform routine tasks, uncertainty about their job role, and the lack of adequate opportunities for career advancements

Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Its Risk Factors among Inmates of a Ghanaian Prison.

Aims: To determine the prevalence of Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) and its risk factors among prison inmates at the Ho central prison. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Ho Central Prison in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region, between May and June 2014. Methodology: We included 389 prisoners who were screened using the World Health Organization PTB tool. Consenting suspected PTB case-patients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Variables collected were socio-demographic and prison-related factors. Spot and early morning sputum samples were collected from suspected case-patients for sputum smear microscopy. Prevalence of PTB and risk factors were determined. Significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Overall, 173 (44.5%) prisoners were found to have symptoms suggestive of PTB out of which 151(87.3%) were included in the study. Of 151 prisoners included, 111 (73.5%) were able to produce sputum for SSM. Only 1(0.9%) of those tested came out as smear positive PTB. None of the potential risk factors was significantly associated with PTB. Conclusion: Prevalence of PTB among Ho central prison inmates was low. None of the potential risk factors was significantly associated with PTB. Use of multiple diagnostic methods for PTB in future studies has been recommended.