Objective: To pilot test the reliability and validity of a newly developed tool measuring nursing and midwifery staff stress and burnout. Design: Descriptive survey. Setting: Public hospital, aged care facility and university. Subjects: For the pilot study a total of forty nine (n=49) nurses and midwives, selected by convenience sampling, were sent an initial pilot questionnaire. The return rate was seventy per cent initially and the return rate on the second mail out was forty nine per cent. Main outcome measure: To determine reliability and validity of a new tool that explores nurses' and midwives' perceptions of stress, burnout and control over their working environment. Results: Face validity, test-retest reliability, internal consistency and principal component analysis were established. Overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.87 indicating good internal consistency for the stress/ burnout element of the questionnaire. The test-retest reliability intraclass correlation coefficient reported 0.30-0.90 for all six sub scales which were developed for both parts of the questionnaire. Conclusion: The pilot study indicates that it is possible to construct a valid and reliable instrument to assess nurses' and midwives' perception of stress and burnout.