Job stress in two different care-giving contexts: A study of professional and semi-professional health personnel in Norway

The study examined the relationship between priorities in job tasks and stress-related experiences among health workers in long-term care (n = 322). Employees' priorities were measured in terms of role orientation, represented by two different 'profiles': expressive and instrumental role orientation. Job stress assessed included potential workload and emotional involvement. Stress-related experiences assessed were psychosomatic and interpersonal consequences. Sub-group analyses were used to test the nature of the relationship between stressors and the criterion variables in the study. The sub-group analyses indicated that role orientation only partially moderated the relationship between job stressors and employees' stress-related experiences. It was in relation to emotional involvement that role orientation was a relatively strong moderator.