Occupational stress and coping strategies among female baccalaureate nursing faculty

Considerable stress is involved in nursing education. However, the sources and extent have not been fully investigated, nor have ways of coping. The main purpose of the study was to explore the sources and levels of perceived stress, coping strategies and effectiveness among female baccalaureate nursing faculty. The second purpose was to examine the relationship between stress, coping and academic responsibilities of the faculty member such as teaching, research and community service. A sample of 70 subjects from eight Ontario universities completed the demographic questionnaire, the researcher-developed 'Stress-Coping Anxiety Inventory', and the 'State-Trait Anxiety Inventory' Form Y (STAI) (Spielberger et al. 1983). Analysis of data using frequencies, cross tabulations, ANOVA and Pearson product-moment correlation were computed. Perceived stressors chosen most frequently as high in stress (greater than or equal to 4) (range = 1-5), in rank order, were 'heavy workload (combined clinical and classroom teaching)', 'retaining failing students', 'failing clinically unsatisfactory students', 'meeting research requirements' and 'providing individual clinical supervision'. Active coping strategies were selected more frequently as being effective (greater than or equal to 4) than passive coping strategies. Age of the respondent, number of years of full-time teaching and tenure status were most often significant factors (less than 0.05) relating to the level of stress. Implications for nursing education administrators and their faculty are discussed.