From The Canadian Press:

TORONTO - A new Statistics Canada study says nearly half of all health-care providers suffer a high degree of on-the-job stress.

The federal agency says nurses, doctors and lab technicians have the highest levels of stress related to their jobs. The 2003 Canadian Community Health Survey found that among health-care providers, 45 per cent reported that most days at work were “quite” or “extremely” stressful.

That compares with 31 per cent of all other employed Canadians who described their work days that way.

Nurses and nurse supervisors were among those reporting the highest on-the-job stress, followed by medical lab technicians, specialist physicians, general and family practitioners, and registered nurses.

Dental hygienists were among the least likely to report high work stress.

In 2003, health-care providers made up six per cent of the Canadian workforce aged 18 to 75, including doctors, nurses, ambulance attendants, technicians and therapists.

Even when influences outside the job were taken into account, nurses and physicians were significantly more likely to report high work stress than all other health-care workers.

Among providers who reported high levels of stress in their daily lives, 78 per cent also reported elevated work stress. As well, 75 per cent of health workers who reported being “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with their lives reported excessive work stress.

While there was little difference between the proportion of men and women in health-care occupations who reported on-the-job stress, age was a factor: about half of health providers aged 35 to 54 said they experienced elevated work-related tension, the highest among age groups.

In comparison, 41 per cent of those aged 55 to 75 and 31 per cent under 25 said they suffered high job stress.

Longer work hours also boosted stress, according to the study released Tuesday. Health providers who worked 35 hours or more per week were much more likely than those working less than 35 hours to report excess stress.

Those who worked shifts other than regular days also were more likely to be stressed on the job.