Abstract

Aims: Nurses are among professional groups that are affected by psychological factors and stress and anxiety and stress are their common problems. The objective of this study was to examine the abundance of depression, anxiety and stress among a group of military nurses. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed from February 2008 until April 2009 on 272 nurses working in a selected military hospital who were selected by probable multistage sampling method. Data was collected by a two-part questionnaire containing individual data and DASS-21 Standardized Questionnaire. The test consists of 21 items including three 7-question subscales of depression, anxiety and stress. Analysis was done by SPSS 15 software. Results: Results showed 24.9 rate of depression, 27.9 anxiety and 23.8 stress among military nurses. Depression scores were higher among female nurses. There was co-relation between prevalence of stress and anxiety with level of education and ward. Conclusion: The high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms among military nurses is alarming. The development of adequate and appropriate support services for this group leads to healthy nurses and therefore health promotion.