Abstract:
This study was designed to determine the Occupational Stressors and Coping strategies of nurses in Tertiary Hospitals in Enugu State. The study sought answers to four research objectives and tested seven hypotheses. The population of study consisted of four hundred and twenty-two nurses in tertiary hospitals in Enugu state. They were sampled using stratified proportionate and clustered sampling techniques. Fifty eight (68) question items questionnaire (demographics variables, level of stress questions and Ways of Coping Questionnaire ) was the instrument used for the data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts and two personnel managers and Cronbach alpha Reliability coefficient was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. The instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.88 and 0.85 respectively. Frequency counts, percentages, mean statistics and standard deviations were used to answer the research objectives while seven hypotheses were tested using t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. The major findings of the study showed that almost all the respondents were females (92.25%), a greater percentage (85.75%) were married, also majority (95%) had no training on occupational stress management. The level of stress experienced by nurses across the four hospitals are the same with work environment as the greatest stressor. The most used strategy by respondents in the 4 hospitals was planful problem solving and problem focused coping while the least used strategy was the escape-avoidance. There is significant difference in the use of coping strategies (EFC and PFC) across the 4 hospitals. Respondents from ESUT Teaching Hospital differed from respondents in the other hospitals in the use of EFC, while respondents from NOHE differed from others in the use of PFC. The use of EFC depends on the respondents’ educational status. The use of coping strategies (PFC and EFC) is same for both the married and single. There is no significant difference in the use of coping strategies (PFC and EFC) by the respondents across their ages and their years of working experience. Use of EFC is same across the professional ranks while the use of PFC varies across the ranks. Respondents in the rank of ADNs showed the most use of the 2 coping strategies (PFC and EFC) while NO1 showed the least use of EFC and PFC. The study has implication for the nurses, nurse administrators and hospital managers. Work environment should be maintained in such a way that it will be conducive for the nurses to perform their jobs. Nurses should aspire to acquire higher degrees in nursing. Periodic assessment of nurses stress levels should be done and actions put in to reduce, alleviate or aid coping among nurses. Senior nurse should coach younger ones on better ways of coping with stress.