Satisfaction, stress, and performance: Issues for occupational psychology in the ‘caring’ professions

Abstract

Three issues are addressed in this article. First, and briefly, the objectives of occupational psychology are touched upon. Then a higher priority than hitherto for studies of professional workers employed in health and ‘caring’ organizations, as distinct from industry and commerce, is argued for. In this context some of the grounds, including evidence from research, for turning some of our attention particularly towards the nursing profession are highlighted. Thirdly, it illustrates why the relationships among stress, satisfaction, and performance for nurses afford a challenging exemplar of occupational problems every bit as important, and relevant to specialized interests, as the current (and, of course, perfectly proper[ddot]) preoccupation with industrial employment and unemployment. Don Willis began his professional career as a Royal Navy psychologist studying human factor problems in signal detection, man—machine interaction, environmental stress, and training. Subsequently he moved to the government's Department of Employment as its Chief Psychologist, responsible for the research and professional work of a large group of occupational psychologists. From 1970 to 1973 he was also an Industrial Professor at Loughborough. In 1974 he was appointed to the first Chair in Applied Psychology of the University of Wales. He has recently retired from headship of the Department of Applied Psychology at UWIST, Cardiff, where his research interests have focused upon organizational behaviour and occupational stress in ‘service’ areas of the public sector.