TABLES
OF CONTENTS
Title i
Approval ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement
v
Table
of Contents vi
List of
Tables ix
List of
Appendices x
Abstract
xiii
Chapter One: Introduction
Background
of the Study 1
Statement
of Problem 5
Purpose
of the Study 6
Hypotheses 6
Significance
of the Study 7
Scope
of Study 8
Operational Definition of Terms 8
Chapter Two: Literature Review
The
Concept of Stress 9
The Concept of Occupational Stress 9
The Concept of Occupational Stress Management 19
Age and Career Stage (Rank) 25
Theory Underpinning the Study 28
Application of the Model to the Present Study 31
Empirical Review 33
Summary of Literature Review 44
Chapter Three: Research Methods
Research
Design 46
Area of
Study 46
Population Study 47
Sample Technique 48
Instrument for Data Collection 49
Ways of Coping Questionnaire 49
Validity of the Instrument 51
Reliability of the instrument 51
Ethical Consideration 52
Procedure for Data Collection 52
Method of Data Analysis 52
Chapter Four: Presentation of Results
Demographic Correlates of Respondents 55
Test of Significance 65
Summary
of major Findings 100
Chapter Five: Discussion of Findings
Discussion
of Major Findings 101
Conclusion 110
Implication
for Nursing 111
Limitations
of the study 112
Summary of the study 112
Suggestion
for Further Studies 114
Recommendation
114
References
Appendices
LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of Transactional Model 32
LIST
OF TABLES
Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents. 56
Table 2: Mean
and Standard Deviation of the Respondents on
the
Level of Stress. 58
Table
3a: Item by Item ANOVA on the
level of stress experienced
by the nurses across the four tertiary
hospitals. 61
Table
3b: Mean and SD of respondents’
level of stress in the 4
hospitals across the stressors. 65
Table 3c: Summary
of the respondents’ level of stress in the 4 hospitals. 66
Table
4: Mean and Standard Deviation
of the Respondents on the coping strategies by the Nurses in the Tertiary Hospital. 67
Table 5: Item
by item analysis of variance of respondents’ mean ratings of
coping strategies in the 4 hospitals. 71
Table 5b: Mean
and SD of the respondents on the coping strategies used by
the nurses across the tertiary hospitals. 74
Table 5c: Summary of the ANOVA of the coping strategies of respondents across the 4 hospitals. 75
Table
5d: Scheffe and Tamhene multiple
comparison analysis. 76
Table 6: Item by item T-test of mean ratings of respondents educational status and coping strategies. 77
Table 7: Summary of the T-test analysis of the mean ratings of respondents’ coping strategies with respect to their educational status. 80
Table 8: Item
by Item Anova for the Respondents Mean Ratings of
Coping Strategies with Respect to their years
of Experience. 81
Table 9: Summary of the Anova result for difference in the mean ratings of Coping Strategies by Respondents with different Years of Experience. 84
Table
10: Item by Item Anova for
Respondents Coping Strategies and their Ages. 85
Table
11: Summary of the Anova of the
Respondents Ages with their
mean ratings of Coping Strategies. 88
Table
12: Item by Item T-Test Analysis
for the Respondent’s Mean
Rating of Coping Strategies and their Martial
Status. 89
Table
13: Summary of T-Test for
difference between Mean Ratings of
Married and Single respondents on their
Coping Strategies. 92
Table
14: Item by Item analysis of the
Respondents Mean Ratings of
Coping Strategies and their Ranks. 93
Table 15: Summary
of ANOVA of the respondent’s mean rating
of coping strategies and their rank. 98
Table 16: Tamhene
Multiple comparison analysis across the ranks. 99
LIST
OF APPENDICES
Appendix I: Proportionate
determination of sample across the 4
hospitals. 122
Appendix I1: Determination of the sample across area of work and rank of respondents from the tertiary hospitals. 123
Appendix I11: Letter
of introduction from the Head of Department,
Nursing Sciences. 125
Appendix1V: Ethical
Approval. 126
Appendix V: Questionnaire. 127
Appendix VI: Reliability
of instrument. 133
Note: All cited material in the study were
referenced.
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.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Work is an essential need for everyone. It is
estimated that over 75% of adult’s non-sleeping time is devoted to job
activities and people find satisfaction and personal identity by means of their
employment. Among life events the workplace stands out as a potentially
important source of stress purely because of the amount of time spent in this
setting (Scott, 2012). Employees are exposed to tension, frustration and
anxiety as they go about the task assigned to them. The negative effect of work on an individual
is referred to as occupational stress (OS).
Nakasis
and Ouzoni (2008) defined occupational Stress (OS) as the harmful physical and
emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match
the resources, capabilities and needs of the worker. Occupational stress is
also referred to as a pattern of emotional, cognitive, behavioral and
physiological reactions to adverse and noxious aspects of work content, work
organization and work environment (European Commission, 2008). Occupational
stress is a condition arising from the interaction of people and their job and
is characterized by changes within the people that force them to deviate from
normal functioning. OS arises when the individual normal coping responses
cannot be found (that is, the individual is unable to cope anymore) and as such
not able to get along with his job resulting in propensity to leave the
organization, absenteeism to mention a few. OS is also seen on a process in
which a professional’s attitude and behavior change in negative ways in
response to job stressors.
OS is
