RESEARCH ARTICLE
Occupational Stress Levels and Coping Strategies among Nurses Working in an Urban Metropolis in North Central Nigeria
Oluwaseyi A. Akpor1, *, Victoria O. Aina1, Oghenerobor B. Akpor2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2023Volume: 16
E-location ID: e187638632302020
Publisher ID: e187638632302020
DOI: 10.2174/18763863-v16-230223-2022-11
Article History:
Received Date: 21/09/2022Revision Received Date: 14/01/2023
Acceptance Date: 26/01/2023
Electronic publication date: 03/03/2023
Collection year: 2023
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Stress is an important psychological concept that can affect health, well-being, and job performance in negative dimensions.
Objective:
This study investigates stress levels and coping strategies among nurses in selected hospitals in North Central Nigeria.
Methods:
The study employed a multistage sample technique method. The study design was descriptive and cross-sectional, using a quantitative strategy. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive and inferential study statistics.
Results:
Finding shows that the minimum age of the participants was 21–30 years, 87% were female, while 41.1% had 1-5 years of working experience. The study revealed that the highest signs and symptoms of stress experienced by the participants included aches and pain (57.5%) and anxiousness (52.5%). The participants experienced moderate stress. The findings revealed that years of experience (r= 0.631, p= 0.000) were observed to be significantly associated with signs and symptoms of stress. The results showed that age (r= -0.243, p= 0.045), religion (r= 0.165, p= 0.032), and experience of memory problems (r= 0.227, p= 0.003) were observed to show significant association with coping strategies.
Conclusion:
Hence, a conducive work environment should be maintained to promote effective nursing care, while periodic stress assessments and management should be implemented by hospital administrators to aid positive coping strategies among nurses.
