Background Nursing is a highly stressful occupation and occupational stress is much greater among nurses who work within emergency departments. However, few studies in China focusing on this problem are available.

Objective To explore factors associated with occupational stress among Chinese female emergency nurses

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted during April–May 2008. The study population consisted of 655 female emergency nurses from 16 hospitals in the Liaoning province, China. Occupational stress was measured by questionnaires that included the Chinese version of the Personal Strain Questionnaire, and data were collected on respondents' demographic characteristics, work situations, occupational roles and personal resources. A total of 510 effective respondents comprised our study subjects (response rate 77.9%). A general linear model was applied to analyse the factors associated with occupational stress.

Results The mean Personal Strain Questionnaire score of the emergency nurses was 91.2 and this score was correlated, in descending order of standardised estimate, with role overload, role boundary, role insufficiency, social support, chronic disease and self-care.

Conclusion The factors role overload, role boundary and role insufficiency had the highest association with occupational stress. Improving work conditions and providing health education and an occupational training programme might help to reduce occupational stress among Chinese female emergency nurses.