Organizational and environmental stress has a significant impact on job performance and patient safety in high-demand healthcare settings such as the operating theatre. This study aimed to assess the effect of organizational and environmental stressors on surgical team members’ performance and patient safety in a Northwest Nigerian tertiary hospital.

A secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study was conducted among 177 surgical healthcare professionals. Data were collected using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Generic Job Stress adapted questionnaire and the Perceived Stress Scale. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation, and inferential analyses including chi-square tests, t-test and regression were performed with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.

The majority of surgical team members reported moderate stress (65.0%), while 20.3% reported severe stress. Organizational stressors ranked highest with an overall mean score of 4.038, followed by environmental stressors (3.981) and interpersonal factors (3.945). Common stress-related outcomes included musculoskeletal pain and fatigue (4.09 ± 0.79), poor job satisfaction (4.02 ± 0.78), and low motivation (4.01 ± 0.79).

No statistically significant associations were identified between stress levels and years of experience (β = −0.100, p = 0.254) or weekly call hours (β = 0.067, p = 0.385).

The findings indicate that organizational and environmental factors have a greater impact on team stress than demographic variables. Targeted interventions to improve workplace policies, environmental conditions, and support systems are important for reducing stress, enhancing team performance, and maintaining patient safety.