Background and context:

Occupational stress is a global and complex phenomenon and workers in developing countries are undoubtedly affected (International Labour Organisation (ILO), 2001).  Staff within maternity settings have been identified as being at risk of suffering from stress resulting in adverse health outcomes (Evenden and Sharpe, 2002). However, MWAs’ perceptions do not seem to have been evidenced in literature.

Common sources of occupational stress identified among the healthcare profession include workload, lack of support, staff shortages and lack of resources (Payne, 2001; Lee and Wang, 2002; Byrne and Espnes, 2008).

A substantive amount of research in the field of occupational stress and coping was dominated by quantitative approaches and the use of singular stress theories to explain research findings (Healy and McKay, 2000; Payne, 2001; Lambert et al., 2004; Chang et al., 2007). Although this approach was useful to identify different levels of stress and added to the body of knowledge on occupational stress, it misses the complexity of the meaning and experiences of stress for an individual.  This methodological limitation informed the decision to use the qualitative methodology (phenomenological approach) adopted for this study. This is supported by Lambert and Lambert (2001) who argued that more qualitative research is required in the field of occupational stress in order to fully explore and identify work stressors from a cross-cultural perspective.

Aim

This research was to explore the following areas around the work experience of MWAs. The main aim of this study is to explore, the MWA’s perception of occupational stress, possible cause(s), the impact and support available and coping methods adopted within hospital (maternity) settings in Nigeria.

Research methodology: This study adopted a qualitative methodology with the rationale linked to the aim of the research. The decision to use Husserl’s (1962) phenomenological approach was a complex one grounded in an understanding that the selected approach is the best in answering research questions and meeting the research objectives. This includes collecting rich in-depth descriptive/narrative accounts of the MWAs’ perception of the phenomenon under study through semi-structured interviews.

Preliminary findings

The MWAs described experiencing high levels of stress. The major source of stress included work overload, staff shortage, exploitation from senior staff and long working hours. Other factors were noted including work organisation and work intensification. There was a lack of support from the hospital management. This impacted on the health and well-being of MWAs leading to various reactions including behavioural and physical.

 Conclusion

This study demonstrates the need for more qualitative studies to explore the perceptions of occupational stress among under-represented group of healthcare workers. It confirmed MWAs are also exposed to similar stress factors described in literature. This highlighted the need for individual and organisational specific interventions.