Canadian Nurses' Interprofessional Work Stressors: A Qualitative Study

Nurses are at risk of adverse mental health symptoms due to frequent exposure to workplace stressors, but less is known about nurses' experiences with interprofessional stressors. This study was designed to understand nurses' perspectives on interprofessional stressors in the workplace. Nurses rated exposures to stressful events through an online survey and were invited to comment on the event they perceived to be the most distressing and impactful. We exclusively considered nurses' open-ended responses that described interprofessional stressors (n = 505) and used a multi-phase, semi-grounded, constructed qualitative approach to represent nurses' experiences. Nurses described interprofessional stressors with physicians, management, and co-workers. The interprofessional stressors involved impacts on patient care, witnessing cruel or harmful actions, and a lack of support among teams. Many interprofessional stressors were associated with events that may be considered traumatic or morally injurious. Interprofessional stressors are a modifiable factor in the nursing environment that must be addressed to support nurses' well-being and retain this vital workforce.