TY - JOUR
T1 - The relationships among workplace stressors, coping methods, demographic characteristics and health in Australian nurses
AU - Chang, Esther
AU - Daly, John
AU - Hancock, Karen
AU - Bidewell, John
AU - Johnson, Amanda
AU - Lambert, Vickie A.
AU - Lambert, Clinton E.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Nursing is known to be stressful. Stress detrimentally can influence job satisfaction, psychological well-being, and physical health. There is a need for increased understanding of the stress that nurses experience and how best to manage it. Three hundred twenty Australian acute care public hospital nurses participated in a study by completing four questionnaires that examined (a) how various workplace stressors relate to ways of coping, demographic characteristics, and physical and mental health and (b) which workplace stressors, coping mechanisms, and demographic characteristics were the best predictors of physical and mental health. Significant correlations were found between stressors and physical and mental health. Multiple regression showed age to be the only significant predictor of physical health. The best coping predictors of mental health were escape–avoidance, distancing, and self-control. Other significant predictors of mental health were support in the workplace, the number of years worked in the unit, and workload. Mental health scores were higher for nurses working more years in the unit and for those who used distancing as a way of coping. Mental health scores were lower for nurses who used escape–avoidance, lacked workplace support, had high workload, and used self-control coping. The findings have implications for organizational management, particularly in terms of recommendations for stress management, social support, and workload reduction.
AB - Nursing is known to be stressful. Stress detrimentally can influence job satisfaction, psychological well-being, and physical health. There is a need for increased understanding of the stress that nurses experience and how best to manage it. Three hundred twenty Australian acute care public hospital nurses participated in a study by completing four questionnaires that examined (a) how various workplace stressors relate to ways of coping, demographic characteristics, and physical and mental health and (b) which workplace stressors, coping mechanisms, and demographic characteristics were the best predictors of physical and mental health. Significant correlations were found between stressors and physical and mental health. Multiple regression showed age to be the only significant predictor of physical health. The best coping predictors of mental health were escape–avoidance, distancing, and self-control. Other significant predictors of mental health were support in the workplace, the number of years worked in the unit, and workload. Mental health scores were higher for nurses working more years in the unit and for those who used distancing as a way of coping. Mental health scores were lower for nurses who used escape–avoidance, lacked workplace support, had high workload, and used self-control coping. The findings have implications for organizational management, particularly in terms of recommendations for stress management, social support, and workload reduction.
KW - Australia
KW - coping
KW - health
KW - nurses
KW - stress (psychology)
UR - http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/35006
U2 - 10.1016/j.profnurs.2005.12.002
DO - 10.1016/j.profnurs.2005.12.002
M3 - Article
SN - 1532-8481
JO - Journal of Professional Nursing
JF - Journal of Professional Nursing
ER -