Perceived Work-Related Stress and Coping Strategies among Clinical Nurses in University of Osun State Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Aim: To examine primary stressors, coping strategies, and techniques used by nurses working in the Uniosun Teaching Hospital in Osogbo, Osun State. Methods: Cross-sectional survey. Place and Duration of Study: The University of Osun Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, South-western, Nigeria between November 2022 and January 2023. Methodology: A self-structured questionnaire with contents derived from the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) was used as the instrument. One hundred and eighty-seven (187) (21 males, 166 females; age ranged 18-60 years) qualified registered nurses were included in this study. Results: Majority of the respondents were 21-30 years old (44.9%), while more than a quarter (26.7%) had worked between 21 and 30 years. Workload was the main cause of stress among the overwhelming majority of respondents, with a response rate of 72.2% and a mean score of 17.35 while 88.8% reported relaxation as their coping mechanism. There was a significant difference between cause of stress and frequency of P = 0.000* while we found no significant difference between the causes of stress and the coping strategies adopted with P = 0.587. Conclusion: The study concludes that nurses' workload due to inadequate staffing is the primary cause of stress, and it recommends recruiting more nurses into the clinical field to help reduce this burden.