Relationship between stress and performance in a Japanese nursing organization.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship between job stress, stress coping ability and performance among Japanese nurses.

Design/methodology/approach: Health risk and organization environment as job stress factors, sense of coherence (SOC) as stress coping ability and medical risk indicator and sickness-absence days as a performance proxy were used to investigate the relationship between stress and performance. Length of professional experience also was included in the investigation.

Findings: The findings suggest a possibility that enriching nurses' professional experiences reduces medical risk. There is also a possibility that raising the SOC, while improving organization environment, contributes to reducing sickness-absence.

Research Limitations/implications: A cross-sectional study of nurses in a single institution was used. In order to generalize the study's results, it will be necessary to conduct multi-institutional longitudinal studies.

Originality/value: The present study shows key factors affecting medical risk and sickness-absence leading to a reduced nursing performance.