Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

School

Public Health

Advisor

Dr. Diana Naser

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine to what extent work demands as measured by perceived job stress affected the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as determined by the number of unhealthy days of registered nurses in the United States. This study was also an investigation of the extent to which other variables such as body-mass index (BMI) and certain lifestyle behaviors affected the HRQOL (number of unhealthy days). The independent variables were perceived job stress, weight (BMI), and lifestyle factors such as tobacco and alcohol use, physical inactivity, and the mindful eating score, and the dependent variable was the HRQOL (measured by the summary index of unhealthy days) of the RNs. This study was guided by the enhanced DRIVE model which describes how individual differences interact with perceived job stress to affect health outcomes. A cross-sectional study design was used and relevant data to answer the research question were collected from 95 participants via a SurveyMonkey survey that was advertised in an e-newsletter from the Nurse Practitioner Association of Continuing Education as well as posted on LinkedIn groups. Logistic regression and Spearman's correlation were used to test the hypothesized associations. There were no statistically significant associations between BMI, alcohol use, smoking, inactivity, and the HRQOL. However, there was a weak correlation between perceived job stress, the mindful eating score, BMI, the total number of unhealthy days and the total number of days that the nurses' daily activities were affected by unhealthy days. The positive social change implication of this study is that, for nurses, awareness of perceived job stress is important in promoting a healthy lifestyle and reducing the risk of chronic diseases.

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