Psychosocial Factors That Influence Occupational Stress in Operating Room Nurses’ Working Environment: A Scoping Review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Operating room nurses play complex roles and are faced with substantial demands, including ensuring patient safety, managing interprofessional collaboration, and adapting to unpredictable challenges. These factors contribute to occupational stress influenced by psychosocial factors, such as workload, interpersonal conflicts, and time pressures. While prior reviews have explored stress in the operating room, none have focused specifically on the psychosocial factors that impact operating room nurses. This scoping review aimed to map existing research on these factors and to identify knowledge gaps and inform future studies. METHODS: This scoping review followed the methodological framework given by Arksey and O'Malley. CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science were searched from inception until October 11, 2024. Peer-reviewed studies in English or Scandinavian languages were included if they reported psychosocial factors influencing occupational stress in operating room nurses working environment and employed qualitative, quantitative, multimethod, or mixed-method designs. FINDINGS: From the 36 papers included, data were organized into three thematic groups: (a) interprofessional factors contributing to occupational stress, (b) work-related factors influencing occupational stress, and (c) stress levels and personal factors influencing occupational stress among operating room nurses.Application to Practice/Conclusions:The primary psychosocial factors contributing to occupational stress among operating room nurses included interprofessional challenges and high workload. Work-related moral distress associated with patient care complexities and safety also played a significant role. These findings highlight a need for strong leadership, improved team dynamics, and supportive interventions to manage stress.

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