Stress due to End-of-Life Care, Coping Strategies, and Psychological Well-being among Nurses in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to identify stress levels due to end-of-life care, coping strategies, and psychological well-being among nurses in neonatal intensive care unit, and to investigate the effect of stress levels and coping strategies on their well-being. Methods: A total of 128 nurses in the neonatal intensive care units of general hospitals in B city participated. The data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the t-test, ANOVA, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression with SPSS version 22.0. Results: The coping strategy that nurses most often used was seeking social support. The factors affecting the well-being of the participants were wishful thinking, problem-focused coping and seeking social support, in order. Those 3 variables explained 21 % of the total variance in psychological well-being. Problem-focused coping and seeking social support were positively associated with psychological well-being, while wishful thinking showed a negative association. Conclusion: In order to improve the psychological well-being of nurses in neonatal intensive care units, it is necessary to provide nurses with a program to build a social support system and to improve their problem-based coping skills.

Keywords

• Psychological stress
• Terminal care
• Psychological adaptation
• Neonatal nurses