Abstract
Objective: Stress is an inevitable and necessary part of life. It is a universal phenomenon and general experience of human necessary for his/her survival and growth. It will affect each person irrespective of age, gender, race, economical condition or educational level. Although some stresses are natural and necessary, if it was strict, continuous and repetitious or the person was not able to confront with it effectively or if supportive sources were limited, it will be treated as a negative phenomenon which will cause physical and psychological disorders. The objective of this study is to determine occupational stress level and conditions cause stress among nurses of educational hospitals in Qazvin Province.
Methodos: This study is a sectional study on 194 nurses working in health care centers of Qazvin Province. Demographic questionnaire and also Philip Rice's occupational stress questionnaire have been completed by these nurses. Moreover, in the following 4 questions have been asked them about insomnia and then the data have been analyzed by SPSS statistical software.
Results: Occupational stress has very high prevalence among nurses, in a way that in this study 91/2% of them experienced high level of occupational stress. There is a significant relation between ward and stress due to work. Besides, the most important reasons of stress among nurses were recognized and the way they encounter this problem was studied. Also the relation between nurses occupational stress and insomnia status has been examined.
Conclusion: This study showed that the level of occupational stress among nurses had been significant and there is a clear and meaningful relation between stress and the ward they work in. Among the reasons that have the most effect on individual's stress were physical tiredness due to work, emergency situations, strict workloads and performing tasks required less knowledge and having numerous heads. It has also been identified that nurses' occupational stress has remarkable role in their insomnia status.

Key words: Occupational stress, nurses, insomnia status, confronting with stress