Nurses’ Lifestyle Behaviors, Work-Related Stress, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Abstract

Background: The nursing profession exposes nurses to work-related stress and presents a big challenge to adhering to healthy lifestyle behaviors. This collectively increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Aim: To assess the association between work-related stress with lifestyle behaviors and CVD risk among Jordanian nurses. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional descriptive design. A convenient sample of 165 nurses was recruited from three different Jordanian hospitals. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires. Blood samples were withdrawn to assess the lipid profiles of the participants. Work-related stress was assessed using a 5-item Job Stress Scale, healthy lifestyle behaviors were assessed using Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II) to measure, and CVD risk was calculated using the Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) Risk Estimator Plus. Then, data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product–moment correlation coefficient, and linear multiple regression. Results: This study showed that 55.2% had a high work-related stress score. In addition, the nurses’ level of adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors was at a moderate level (M = 2.14, SD = 0.40), with the lowest average score for physical activity (M = 1.89, SD = 0.60). Most of the participants (75.2%) were observed in the CVD high-risk category. Current experience had a significant positive correlation with the lifetime risk of developing CVD (r = 0.19, p > 0.05) and negative correlations with both work-related stress (r = −0.21, p > 0.01) and stress management subscale score (r = −0.18, p > 0.05). Furthermore, sex was the only significant predictor of healthy lifestyle behaviors (β = −0.19, p < 0.001) and CVD risk (β = 0.35, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study signify the importance of increasing awareness about the risk of developing CVD among nurses. Thus, healthcare leaders, managers, policymakers, and decision-makers should focus on improving healthy lifestyle behaviors among nurses and decreasing stress levels at work among Jordanian nurses, which will positively reflect on nurses’ health and lower the risk of developing CVD.