Evaluating an intervention addressing stress in emergency department clerical staff

Organizational stress is a significant occupational health challenge and is associated with multiple adverse health and social outcomes. Numerous studies have examined the sources of occupational stress in different workforces, but sparse evidence exists for the effectiveness of interventions to address it.

To evaluate interventions to reduce occupational stress in emergency department (ED) clerical staff.

A paper-based, self-report questionnaire examining perceived job demand and control in clerical staff in one UK ED in 2014, 2015 and 2017. Following each questionnaire round, we held focus groups with volunteer participants to discuss responses and then reported findings to management. Managers subsequently met with their workforce to develop interventions to address identified organizational stressors.

We observed improvement in workers’ perceived job control from 14.44 (13.88–15.00) in 2014 to 16.64 (15.92–17.36) in 2017 and in social support from 15.36 (14.91–15.81) in 2014 to 19.77 (19.12–20.42) in 2017, but not in work demand [10.55 (10.11–10.99) in 2014; 11.65 (10.95–12.35) in 2017]. In the focus groups, participants indicated satisfaction with the interventions implemented to address occupational stress.

The sustained improvements in addressing occupational stressors in these ED clerical workers are encouraging. Further work should examine whether similar improvements can be achieved in clinical staff and for other work stressors such as effort–reward imbalance and organizational justice.