Moderating Role of Sense of Coherence in the Relationship between Coping Strategies and Occupational Stress among Intensive Care Unit Nurses

Nursing is, by its very nature, an occupation subject to a high degree of stress. Every day the nurse confronts stark suffering, grief, and death as few other people do. Workplace stress has long been recognized as a challenge for the nursing profession. The level of stress experienced and the extent to which adverse psychological and physiological effects of stress occur depend on how well the individual utilizes coping strategies in the organizational setting. In the last few years, the importance of Sense of Coherence has begun to attract attention in nursing management. Nurses with a higher SOC have been found to have better mental health, fewer incidences of burnout, a greater level of job satisfaction, and a greater sense of achievement concerning regular activities. The present study aimed to find out the moderating role of Sense of Coherence between Coping Strategies and Occupational Stress. For that, 83 samples were selected by using purposive sampling method and provided data on Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (French, Lenton, Walters and Eyles, 1995), Sense of Coherence (Antonovsky, 1979), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire(Garnefski et al., 2001) was used. Statistical measures Pearson's Product Moment Correlation and Moderation analysis were used in assessing the data and obtained the results. The key constructs such as adaptive coping strategy and Sense of Coherence were significantly contributed to cope with Occupational stress. The practical implication of results and intervention strategies are discussed.