Effects and Sources of Stress on Radiologic Technologists

Occupational stress is common among Radiologic Technologists and other healthcare workers in the healthcare industry. The underlying reason for stress could be a highly demanding work environment. Along with this, handling a huge influx of patients for long hours plays its part. Moreover, lack of appreciation for the hard work is another stressor.

In addition, medical professionals have to provide their patients with emotional and psychological support. As a result, they can become exhausted. Therefore, the daily jobs of medical health professionals include responsibilities for which they have to go way beyond. Stress in healthcare workers is also a result of a lack of social support at work. Further, it can lead to severe discomfort, physical illness, or burnout in healthcare workers.

What Causes Stress in Healthcare Workers?

Several situations at work and on the personal front cause stress in healthcare professionals. Medical staff, including nurses and physicians, have been dealing with occupational stress for a long time now.

Some Findings

Recent studies have proven that stress in healthcare workers impacts their psychological, behavioral, and physical health. For example, the professionals of Continuing Education For Radiologic Technologists do not get enough time to complete their courses.

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But, this is mostly because they also have to fulfill duties as parents while continuing their medical practice. Many surveys have been conducted on healthcare workers to understand the reason causing stress.

Read on to understand the causes and impacts of stress in healthcare workers. Also, know about measures taken that can help the healthcare workers from stress.

1. Organizational Factors.

The organization’s environment matters a lot to workers. Studies indicate that workplace management has a great influence on workers and their stress levels. Professionals in health care are stressed because of:

• Job demands
• Heavy workload
• Long working hours
• Lack of resources that affect their potential, etc.

In addition, the increasing use of machines has decreased staffing in hospitals. However, it has increased the workload on the other staff. Furthermore, workers feel pressured because of mismanagement in the organization. For instance, at times, they hire unskilled people for the job, whereas at other times, the job responsibilities are not clearly mentioned.

2. Interpersonal Relationship.

Healthcare professionals work day and night. Hence, work relationships in an organization hold significant importance in preventing stress among workers. Therefore, any conflict with a co-worker may disturb the workers’ mental health.

Workers need social support from colleagues. But, many organizations lack a system for creating better work relationships among employees. In other words, a lack of interpersonal relationships at work leads to exceptional stress levels among employees.

3. Individual Attributes.

Stress is caused based on the reaction of a person to drastically change external conditions. Individual characteristics play a vital role in keeping nurses and other medical staff away from stress. Above all, a lack of preparation in handling highly emotional situations is a crucial cause of stress among nurses.

4. Lack of Opportunity and Recognition to Healthcare Workers.

Conflicts with resolving the priorities leads to notable stress. Expectations of the job roles and lack of growth opportunities add to stress. In addition, the ambiguity around roles and responsibilities is a major stressor for employees. Healthcare staff work hard day and night to provide patient care. For instance, they not only run tests on patients, but are also emotionally available for patients. Still, they feel they are not appreciated well.

5. Some Stressors at Work.

Role confusion and lack of recognition in an organization cause stress among workers irrespective of their position. Other stressors include:

• Financial and economic issues
• Work and home responsibilities
• Communal conflict at the organization
• Time limitations, etc.

Stress among employees also affects their work and productivity. As a result, the organization is affected on the whole.

How Does the Body Feel when Stressed?

Stress is a small word. But, the hormones related to it can put the body through tough wear and tear, making you vulnerable to illness. You could feel the following in your body and in everyday routines as a result of mental stress:

• Prolonged tiredness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Constipation, diarrhea, or other stomach-related issues
• Headache
• Easily irritated

According to professionals, workers who have chronic stress have activated cortisol and adrenaline for a long period. As a result, there is a negative effect on their body. In other words, it puts them at high risk of health problems.

These health problems include:

• depression
• weight gain
• heart ailment
• memory issues
• insomnia or other sleep issues
• hyperglycemia, etc.

What is the Impact of Stress on Healthcare Workers?

Stress among healthcare workers can be categorized in three broad terms: Psychological, Behavioral, Physical. It is important to understand that stress management is necessary for every organization.

If not handled well, it takes a toll on the healthcare system. X-Ray techs, and other staff members have been questioned about stress in various studies conducted by different people.

1. Psychological Impact.

The psychological impact of stress majorly includes:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Feeling inefficient, etc.

Maintaining mental stability and peace is extremely important in any industry. Most importantly, staying anxious and worried for a longer period can:

• Deteriorate health
• Reduce efficiency at the workplace

Due to psychological impact, people may resign from their jobs. As a result, there is a direct impact on their personal life.

2. Behavioral Impact of Stress on Healthcare Workers.

Healthcare professionals must have patience as they have to deal with different people every day. These stressed professionals have:

• poor decision-making skills
• difficulty concentrating
• poor job performance

Also, the chances of error increase due to absenteeism. The above-mentioned behavioral issues lead to reduced work performance, and also cause burnout among employees. As a result, they run behind on their work, and many times lose interest in their jobs.

3. Physical Impact.

The psychological health of the human body directly affects immune functioning. When a person is mentally not at peace and is stressed over different things, it will also affect their physical health simultaneously. In other words, a person is prone to:

• Heart disease
• Hypertension
• Upset bowel
• Joint pains
• Migraines

The impact of stress on physical health is real. Therefore, it is being worked on by psychologists.

Tips to Control Stress in the Healthcare Workplace

An organization consists of people from different backgrounds, natures, and abilities. Therefore, some actions to improve workplace conditions will reduce the burden of having to cope with stress. Hospitals, labs, etc. should duly make efforts to control conditions that cause stress. Moreover, it has been seen that organizational changes reduce and control stress at work.

1. Organization Intervention.

As we have read, these occupational issues cause the most stress. Therefore, the best approach is to work on these situations and take preventive measures as needed:

• Define the roles and responsibilities clearly to each worker
• Provide opportunities for growth
• Promote social interaction among employees
• Make them feel recognized
• Allow them to participate in decisions that impact their job directly
• Promote team processes where workers participate in patient-care decisions
• Create a healthcare industry team to provide efficient services to patients without sacrificing quality
• This team should consist of doctors, nurses, managers, etc.

Several organizations have been taking these measures to reduce work-related stress, and they have shown great results in controlling stress.

2. Stress Management Intervention. 

Stress management intervention is purely worker-focused in order to imply changes for the staff to feel motivated:

• Workers require training to cope with stress
• Professionals need to learn about cognitive-behavioral techniques
• They need to understand the importance of time management
• Progressive relaxation

The above techniques include measures for workers to deal with stressful situations efficiently and effectively. Most importantly, these measures motivate workers to provide the best healthcare services and perform their best.

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Conclusion

The healthcare profession leaves healthcare professionals stressed. This stress greatly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare staff that may or may not deal with patients directly have faced the heat of stressful conditions. Therefore, it is important to reduce stress among healthcare professionals in order to improve their work performance; thus, helping them provide better services to patients.