Investigation of the relationships among workplace stressors, ways of coping, and the mental health of Chinese head nurses

Limited information exists about which workplace events are stressful for nurses in charge of a hospital patient-care unit (head nurse) in China and how these nurses cope with these events. Therefore, the purposes of this descriptive study were to examine workplace stressors, ways of coping, and the levels of mental health of Chinese head nurses, as well as to identify the relationships among the workplace stressors, ways of coping, and mental health of Chinese head nurses. To address these purposes, four self-report questionnaires were administered to a convenience sample of 92 head nurses from two teaching hospitals located in one city in central China. The findings suggested that workload, death/dying, and conflict with physicians were the most predominant sources of workplace stress, while the most frequent coping strategies used were positive reappraisal, planful problem solving, and self-control. The mental health scores were found to be lower than prior research has suggested for some nurses in Asia. A number of significant correlations were found among demographic characteristics, workplace stressors, ways of coping, and mental health.