STRESS, COPING AND MENTAL WELL-BEING IN HOSPITAL NURSES

Previous studies on stress in nurses have demonstrated positive but low correlations between stress measures and indicators of mental distress. The present study was designed to investigate further this relationship and the extent to which it is attenuated by coping strategies. Questionnaires on sources of stress, coping strategies and health outcomes were administered to 72 nurses in one large general hospital. The results indicated that staff conflicts and workload stress increased with grade of nurse and that workload stress and organizational support and involvement differed between wards, whereas there were no differences between groups in coping strategies or mental health outcomes. Negative mental health outcomes were mainly predicted by nurses' perceptions of excessive workload and their adoption of avoidance coping strategies. The main recommendations arising from the study, therefore, were that stress-related disorders in nurses could be alleviated if sufficient resources were allocated so that excessive workloads were reduced, and if stress management programmes could be initiated so that appropriate coping strategies would be adopted.