Stress and coping between the intensive care unit and general ward nurses in selected hospital, Coimbatore

Nurses stress is defined as the emotional and physical reactions resulting from the interactions between the nurse and her/his work environment where the demands of the job exceed capabilities and resources. Nurse stress is one of the current problems which affect the nurses and the quality of patient care.

To compare the level of stress and coping between Intensive Care Unit and General Ward nurses

The research design adopted for this study was comparative descriptive. The study was conducted in PSG Hospital, Coimbatore. desired sample of 150 were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. demographic data and the stress of the nurses is assessed using a standardized questionnaire developed by Chaudhury et al., 2004 and coping is assessed by a standardized rating scale developed by McElfatrick et al., 2000. The data was analyzed by inferential & descriptive statistics.

The stress level of intensive care unit nurses is significantly more than the general ward nurses which have been proved by the value of Z test (10.98) which is greater than the table value 1.64. The coping level of intensive care unit nurses is significantly less than the general ward nurses which have been proved by the value of Z test (15.22) which is greater than the table value 1.64. The correlation coefficient ‘r’ =0.425 revealed that, there was a moderate level of significance at p<0.01 level.

This study shows that the intensive care unit nurses were more stressed than the general ward nurses and general ward nurses have more coping than the intensive care unit nurses. It was strongly recommended that a regular assessment of stress and stress reduction programme can be arranged to reduce the stress of intensive care unit nurses which helps to improve the quality of care for patients.