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Stress Exhaustion and Family Dynamics

of Female Married Call Center Agents

A Study Presented to the Faculty

Of the College of Nursing of

Cebu Sacred Heart College

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the

Subject Nursing Research for the Degree

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Adobas, Loraine A.

Morales, Crystal Mae S.

Sabanal, Andr Gil I.

October 2013


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGEACKNOWLEDGEMENT iCHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE ii

Rationale of the StudyTHEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 5REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 8THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem 16Statement of the Null Hypotheses 17Significance of the Study 18

RESEARCH METHODOLOGYResearch Design 20

Research Environment 20

Research Respondent 21

Research Instrument 21

Research Procedure 21

Treatment Data 22

Definition of Terms 23

CHAPTER II

PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION, AND ANALYSIS OF DATASECTION I

Section 1.1Data Results 26

Section 1. 2

Interpretations 34

SECTION II

Data Results and Interpretations 45

PROPOSED INTERVENTION 48Goal and Objectives 49Areas of Concern 50

CHAPTER IIISummary and Findings 55Conclusion 56Recommendations 57


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APPENDIX ATransmittal Letter Addressed to the Dean 64

APPENDIX BTransmittal Letter Addressed to the Respondents 65

APPENDIX C

Research Tool 66APPENDIX D Research Time Table 70APPENDIX E Research Budget 71APPENDIX F BIBLIOGRAPHY 72APPENDIX G CURRICULUM VITAE 74


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i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Sincerest thanks to the following people who in one way or another

became part of our endeavor:

To the call center agents, who employed their time out of stress

from work and for religious response to queries on the research tool

provided.

To our research adviser, Ms. Rizzelle C. Olila, for guiding us through

in completing this research and for filling us with knowledge and support.

To our families, who helped suffice the needs in light of this

research and the unwavering support on all our undertakings.

To the librarian, Ms. Riza C. Olila, for aiding us in collecting

information to support this research.

To the researchers, for the help each other has extended and for

the fun while learning throughout the fulfillment of this research as part of

our endeavor of becoming nurses.

And above all, to our Almighty Father, for being our guiding light

who invicibly leads us to ways in attaining our goals and aspirations. This,

we dedicate for your glory!

THE RESEARCHERS


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ii

CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

Introduction

Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you

feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense

danger whether its real or imagined, the body's defenses kick into high

gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the fight-or-flight reaction,

or the stress response. The stress response is the bodys way of

protection (www.helpguide.org).

Each person handles stress differently, one person can thrive

in a situation that creates great distress for another. For example, many

people view public speaking as scary, but for teachers and actors, it is an

everyday enjoyable experience. Marriage, children, airplanes, snakes, a

new job, a new school, and leaving home are examples of stress-causing

events (Shiela L. Videbeck,2001).

Exhaustion, defined as extreme physical tiredness and loss

of strength due to a lack of food and sleep, overwork, and stress. It

causes the sufferer to be constantly tired and physically worn out. If

disregarded, exhaustion can cause feelings ofdepression and lower the
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immune system making a person defenseless against diseases and

illnesses.

Stress exhaustion is a combination of physical

and emotional exhaustion that is the result of prolonged high stress

situations. Combined with lack of rest, exhaustion can be highly

debilitating. People who suffer from this condition feel overwhelmed by

the events around them. Many also experience feelings of frustration and

helplessness. If not addressed, it can lead to additional health problems.

Stress exhaustion also affects work performance. Making the right

decision can be very difficult for an individual who is suffering from

exhaustion. In the corporate world, this condition is often referred to as

burnout. Some high pressure work environments do not make sufficient

allowances for stress, making it difficult for workers to communicate their

needs. Individuals of all ages, classes, and occupations can be affected by

stress exhaustion (www.wisegeek.com).

Marriage and work are so closely interdependent in the

experience of the vast majority of the people. Family life and work

mutually affects one another in different ways." These two realities are so

connected with each other that often times, married couples have

difficulties to manage which results to varied problems from children

rearing to broken marriages. This is a conflict between two values that of

marriage/family life and work. They have to face this reality, but not

without neglecting one over the other. There is no problem with regards
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to those who know how to manage such responsibility but to those who

has little ability to manage marriage and work, it would be a great

struggle. In the past, man takes up the responsibility of being the

breadwinner of the family, but due to economic problem women of today

work for economic gain to help the husband and sometimes leaving the

child- rearing to nannies and house helpers or to the care of their

relatives and in-laws. Sometimes, this set-up creates rage in marriages.

One of the interesting jobs married individuals usually go into

nowadays are call center jobs. More than a phenomenon of the present

day businesses, call centers has become a refuge to those who were laid-

off from their jobs. Although other work requires a graveyard shift like

those breweries, distillers and hospitals who work 24/7, what makes call

centers different aside from being a phenomenon, it gives their

employees a considerable economic gain without being conscious of your

educational attainment. Married individuals who were not able to pursue

their studies can work in call centers as long as you have a good English

proficiency.

Call centers have existed for decades but have only really

mushroomed in the last five years or so. The boom has been fuelled by

advances in technology and the shift towards a 24-hour society allowing

us to telephone the bank or email the insurance company at any hour of

night or day. Call center agents experience high levels of stress

exhaustion. Call center agents experience dissonance when they are


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required to act pleasant with clients when they feel entirely otherwise.

This increases anxiety, burnout, depression, and psychosomatic

complaints. Remaining cheerful may be especially challenging in the face

of client aggression. Over 40% of call center workers deal with angry

clients every day. Unique stressors, such as ambiguous or excessive client

expectations, client verbal aggression toward the call center agents, and

disliked clients predicts burnout among call center agents, independent of

other variables (www.shepellfgi.com).In call centers, agents does not only

waste their physical energy but also their emotional energy, the fact that

most of the callers are irate or problematic and the agent have to explain

or even argue with callers in a nicer way. They cannot just simply put

down the phone even if the caller is shouting and in rage. In the hospital,

though nurses and other personnel have night or graveyard shifts, they

can have a rest after their rounds, however in call centers, call come in

after calls and quotas should be met (www.gilyann-urstoff.blogspot.com).

In Canada, experts estimate between 250,000 and 400,000

people now work in call centers. Many call centers are sited in giant

hangar-like buildings, housing thousands of staff. The majority are

women although many young people, especially graduates, also work in

call centers. Canada's almost half-million call-center agents are suffering

higher rates of stress and emotional difficulty than those in other

industries. The findings estimate that among 100 recent hires at a call
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center, 14 percent may be feeling high levels of stress, and 10 percent

may experience high levels of depression (www.canada.com).

For many United States companies, the Philippines is the

country of choice for call centers not only because of its less expensive

operational and labor costs, but the Filipinos close cultural affinity to

Americans, their English proficiency, and high information technology

literacy also proved advantageous. Thus, the country is a competitive

destination for call centers. The call center industry has been dubbed a

sunshine industry by the government. The Call Center Directory of the

Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported that the Philippines

now has 788 call centers in 20 key locations. The Philippines is a top

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)destination for the estimated $150-

billion business process outsourcing industry. The Department of Trade

and Industry (DTI) has reported that the country is fast emerging as the

call center capital of the world. The Contact Center Association of the

Philippines (CCAP)stated that the Philippines has already overtaken India

in the number of call center agents this year. India was said to be the call

center capital for the recent years. Last year, there were about 300,000

employed Filipino call center agents. This year, the number increased to

350,000, compared to 330,000 in India. The countrys call center

revenues are expected to reach $5.7 billion this year, $200 million higher

compared to Indias $5.5 billion. The industry not only boosts the
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countrys economy, but has become an answer for employment and an

option for many Filipinos (www.mb.com.ph).

Nevertheless, locally and internationally, stress is evident as

statistics show. The challenges that stress and exhaustion puts married

call center agents into, got our attention, thus the concern of this study.

The researchers are 3rd year students taking up Bachelor of

Science in Nursing in Cebu Sacred Heart College. The researchers intend

to have this study because they find it relevant since call center (BPO

Industry) has become phenomenal. It has been instilled in our minds that

there are naturally positive and negative sides of things and events so

they delved into making a research to seek for the downside particularly

on stress exhaustion and work performance of the call center agents

working in this industry. Also, this study is in line with our requirements

on our subject, Nursing Research.
http://www.mb.com.ph/http://www.mb.com.ph/

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