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BACKGROUND: Work-related stress significantly impacts nurses' well-being and professional performance. Coping strategies and social support play a role in managing stress. Extensive research on nurses' stress exists, but an understanding of the relationships among variables such as sleep quality and mental health, among others, is limited. PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the relationships among stress, sleep quality, and mental health (anxiety and depressive symptoms) in nurses in a hospital in southern Taiwan and to analyze how coping strategies and social support mediate these relationships. METHODS: Convenience sampling was used to collect data on demographics, stress, sleep quality, mental health, coping strategies, and social support in 202 nurses who were at least 20 years of age and had at least three months of nursing experience. Using structural equation modeling, we explored the potential mediating impact of coping strategies and social support on the relationship between stress and mental health. RESULTS: Among the study participants, 85.6% reported sleep issues, 60.9% depression, and 31.2% anxiety. Our model confirmed that work stress significantly impacts sleep quality, anxiety, and depression. Coping strategies mediated stress-related anxiety and depressive symptoms; social support also mediated stress-related anxiety but not depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights strong associations between stress, sleep quality, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, with coping strategies and social support as potential mediators. Nursing managers should integrate coping strategies and psychosocial support in workplace interventions to enhance the mental health and job performance of nurses in challenging settings, ultimately benefiting retention and patient care.
Lai et al. (Thu,) studied this question.