ABSTRACT
Health care professions have traditionally been identified as “high stress” occupations in the litera ture (e.g., Payne & Firth-Cozens, 1987, 1999) as a result of exposure to psychosocial factors and infectious, hazardous, and physical agents (Rogers, 1997). Early studies identified health care workers as having more occupational illnesses and injuries than workers employed in other service industries (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1995; Calhoun, 1980), higher rates of mental health admissions (Colligan, Smith, & Hurrell, 1977), more absenteeism, and higher staff turnover (Firth and Britton, 1989). For example, Colligan and colleagues (1977) examined 8,450 cases from mental health center records and found a disproportionate incidence of mental health disorders among workers in health care occupations, which comprised seven of the top-ranked occupa tions. Later studies confirmed excess mental health problems and stress-related disorders among health care workers (e.g., Gunderson & Colcord, 1982; Hoiberg, 1982).
