Nurses Under Stress

By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Stress can play a major role in many jobs. In fact, in today's world we see it happening more and more in these tough economic times.

One field with growing responsibility and tremendous stress is nursing. Fortunately many healthcare organizations are beginning to recognize the high cost of over-stressed nurses—not just in recruiting and training their replacements but also in terms of patient safety.

An organization that evaluates hospitals called the Joint Commission has a policy where it looks for a culture of safety and a big part of their evaluation of hospitals is making sure nurses feel less stress and that they have comfort in their jobs.