THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORKLOAD AND JOB STRESS AMONG NURSES IN THE INPATIENT ROOM OF UMMI HOSPITAL IN BENGKULU CITY

Workload represents a fundamental challenge in the nursing profession, arising from the complex interaction between high task demands, the fast-paced work environment, and the limitations in nurses' skills, behavior, and perception. In the inpatient room, factors such as high patient-to-nurse ratios, case complexity, and extensive documentation requirements exponentially increase job pressure. Job stress, defined as the psychological and physiological response to excessive demands, is one of the main factors that systematically reduces productivity, efficiency, and quality of service within healthcare organizations. Unmanaged chronic stress poses a threat to patient safety and professional well-being, potentially leading to severe physical complications (such as chronic fatigue) and psychological complications (such as burnout and depression) among the staff. This study was specifically designed to examine and validate the empirical relationship between the perceived level of workload and the experienced level of job stress among nurses in the Inpatient Room of UMMI Hospital in Bengkulu City. This quantitative research adopted a descriptive observational design with a cross-sectional approach to measure the variables simultaneously at one point in time. The target population included all 66 nurses working in the inpatient room of UMMI Hospital, and the total sampling technique was employed to include all nurses as the sample. The collected data were analyzed using Univariate (for frequency distribution) and Bivariate analysis. The Chi-square ($\chi^2$) test was applied to determine the significance of the relationship, while the Contingency Coefficient (C) test was used to measure the strength and closeness of the association between the variables. The findings revealed a concerning situation among the 66 respondents: the majority of nurses (66.7%) were categorized as having a heavy workload, and 
57.6% of the total respondents experienced job stress at a severe level. The bivariate analysis 
validated this correlation, yielding a highly significant p-value of 0.000. Based on these results, it is concluded that there is a strong and statistically significant relationship between workload 
and job stress among nurses in the Inpatient Room of UMMI Hospital in Bengkulu City. This strongly implies the necessity for structured management interventions to balance workload for the sake of staff welfare and improved service quality in the hospital.

Published: 2026-02-27