Job Related Stress in a Medical Center Organization: Management of Communication Issues

Abstract

This study reports the first in a series of studies investigating job-related stress in a medical center organization. A specific focus concerns the relationship of certain management-communication issues to the job-related stress phenomenon. A detailed review of the job-related stress literature is made. A research model is then presented which depicts the relevant variables in the stress-management-communication inquiry. A structural analysis of the data set is conducted revealing the key links between the variables in the research model. Predictive relationships between the dependent measure of department/unit stress and other research variables are tested. The discriminant power of the job-related stress measure is analyzed, and differences in the stress dependent measure by demographic organizational variables are tested. Finally, implications regarding management practices and the role they play in the activation and remediation of stress in a medical center organization are presented.