Abstract
M.Com. (Industrial Psychology)
The objective of the research study was to investigate the moderator effect that supervisor and collegial support have on the relationship between exposure to violent incidents and occupational stress among South African paramedics. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was utilised. The sample (N = 82) was comprised of paramedics registered in different categories with the HPCSA. The paramedics who participated in the study were employed by a single emergency care (EC) organisation and worked at one of six hospital-linked paramedic bases specifically in the city of Johannesburg within the Gauteng Province. The Sources of Workplace Stress Inventory (SWSI) and the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) were utilised as measuring instruments. Data on exposure to violent incidents was obtained from the EC organisation’s clinical database of reported critical incidents. The results did not provide support for exposure to violent incidents as a predictor of occupational stress. Neither supervisor support nor collegial support significantly moderated the relationship between exposure to violent incidents and occupational stress. There was a significant correlation between supervisor support and occupational stress, as well as between collegial support and occupational stress. The findings indicated that both forms of social support (collegial and supervisor) significantly decreased occupational stress among paramedics. Organisations may benefit from considering supervisor and collegial support as a means of reducing the occupational stress levels of paramedics. There may be other variables that were not accounted for in this study, which could be explored in future studies to explain the effect of exposure to violent incidents on South African paramedics’ stress levels.