Aims: To determine which of the many factors that have been associated with workplace stress actually contributed to health care costs
Procedure: The researchers conducted a five-year study of 136 nurses working in a Midwest hospital. The researchers initially interviewed the participants to determine both their job demands and their level of stress. Subsequent interviews with supervisors confirmed the job demand criteria. They gathered both mental and physical health data by using standard survey instruments and physiological tests and controlled for previous health status. The study used cumulative health care costs incurred over five years as the primary indicator of health care costs.
Findings: The study showed that individuals who felt high demand and low control had significantly higher health care costs at the end of five years. These employees also had higher residual cortisol levels, a physiological indicator of stress. Increased cortisol levels persisted several hours after the nurses left the job, which, according to Ganster, indicated an inability to unwind.
Conclusion: A low sense of control in a person's job is a significant cause of stress and consequently stress-related illness
Strength: The data from this study provides the motivation (if only from the point of view of reducing costs) to re-evaluate how workers are allocated roles and responsibilities
Weakness 1: The study only covered a particular profession, and the findings may not generalise to the working population as a whole.
Weakness 2: Given the large number of duties that may be performed by nurses, the sample size of 136 is not particularly large, and so the results may be confounded by individual differences.