Work-Related Stressors and Regular Periods of Recovery: Toward Restoring Physical, Psychological, and Social Resources

Enduring chronic work-related stress can have implications on various aspects of health and well-being. People who work in adverse conditions for prolonged periods of time without resolution may be vulnerable to the onset of work-related stress. This chapter focuses on healthcare professions to illustrate how occupations that are physically, psychologically, and socially demanding can elicit work-related stress in the event of working in adverse conditions. Healthcare professionals can encounter occupational stressors that are challenging enough to elicit perceived and biological stress responses. Repeated exposure to occupational stressors can potentially lead to dysregulation in biological stress response systems, such as the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) Axis. This raises some concerns given that chronic work-related stress and dysregulation of the HPA axis have been associated with degradation in immune system, and cognitive and metabolic functioning. Chronic work-related stress can also inhibit healthcare professionals’ ability to provide optimal care and elicit a low sense of job satisfaction and intentions to leave their occupation. Thus, it is necessary to establish and implement ways to ameliorate work-related stress to support healthcare professionals to thrive in their occupation and facilitate staff retention in the health and care sector. This chapter illustrates how occupational health practices that enable healthcare professionals to engage in regular periods of recovery from work-related stressors could be effective in replenishing the physical, psychological, and social resources required to function optimally in their profession.