PERCEIVED STRESS INDICATORS AND COPING MECHANISMS AMONG STUDENTS SEEKING A BACCALAUREATE DEGREE IN NURSING.
Contributors: University of South Dakota.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 232
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Education.; Education, Administration.
Description: Purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived stress indicators and coping mechanisms among nursing students. The population studied was seeking a baccalaureate degree in nursing in public and private institutions in North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.

Study methodology. The population for this study included students in the junior and senior year of a baccalaureate nursing curriculum in public and private colleges and universities in North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. From this population a stratified random sample of 104 subjects was obtained.

As an exploratory and descriptive study, this project utilized a process termed triangulation which combined quantitative and qualitative research (Treece & Treece, 1986). The quantitative instruments included a demographic data form, a rater evaluation form, and a critical incident form, adapted from Lee (1987). The qualitative process used an instrument for a structured telephone interview.

Three independent raters were utilized to code the perceived stress indicators and coping mechanisms into one of the pre-determined categories. Interrater reliability was determined by the percentage of time used by two independent raters agreeing upon the category for the same response. The third independent rater assigned the category to the subject response whenever the first two raters did not agree on the category of stress indicators and/or coping mechanisms. Data was calculated with the assistance of the computerized SPSSX and AppleStat statistical analysis programs.

Conclusions. Analysis of the data resulted in five conclusions. These were: (1) distinctive categories of perceived stress indicators and coping mechanisms were identifiable in junior and senior students of baccalaureate nursing programs; (2) primary categories of stress indicators varied between groups of nursing students whereas primary categories of coping mechanisms remained constant; (3) primary categories of perceived stress indicators for the respective student groups of generic, registered nurse, and all students were: (a) clinical stress; (b) personal stress; and (c) didactic stress, while the primary category of perceived coping mechanisms is emotion-focused coping; (4) no relationship existed between the variables of perceived stress indicators and coping mechanisms; and (5) support networks were essential to assist nursing students to successfully cope with the stressful experiences they encounter.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-10, Section: B, page: 4773.

Thesis (ED.D)--UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, 1990.

School code: 0203.