Vård under olika villkor : En jämförelse av organisationskultur och stress – I Sverige respektive Serbien

Sammanfattning

Work-related stress among nurses has been described as a recurring challenge in healthcare systems. Organizational culture, leadership, social support and hierarchical structures appear to influence how stress is experienced and managed in everyday work. The aim of this study is to explore how organisational culture may affect nurses’ experiences of work-related stress in Sweden and Serbia. A comparative design, based on the Most Similar System Design (MSSD), was applied to enable analysis of two contexts that share professional structures but differ in organizational and cultural conditions. Data were collected through structured interviews and questionnaires with nurses in both countries and analyzed deductively with support from organizational and psychosocial theories. The findings indicate that nurses in both contexts described high workload, limited recovery, and organizational shortcomings as central stressors. At the same time, differences emerged regarding leadership styles, hierarchical structures, and access to social support. Swedish nurses tended to describe collaborative leadership and clearer organizational structures, while Serbian nurses more often referred to higher power distance, limited autonomy and economic insecurity. The study suggests that organizational culture plays an important role in shaping nurses’ experiences of work-related stress, and that cultural norms, leadership ideals and structural conditions may influence stress levels and that perceived ability to manage work demands.