[Mental health and stress coping among hospital nurses by stress & stress-coping questionnaire]

This study was aimed to evaluate the relationship between the mental health level and stress coping style in a group of female subjects in a public hospital. A self-administrated questionnaire including questions on nursing work, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) as well as the Stress and Stress Coping questionnaire (SSCQ) was used. The subjects of this study were 225 female nurses. The subjects' age and working experience (mean +/- SD) were 34.0 +/- 10.3 and 10.6 +/- 8.3 years, respectively. The results obtained were as follows: 1) Either of the following determinants was related to negative mental health: experience of 1-2 years; working in the operating room or in-patient department. 2) The subjects whose working experience was < 5 years or > or = 10 years had higher scores in the SSCQ. These subjects were among those who did not have higher scores in the GHQ. It was suggested that these subjects need to receive a guidance in stress coping. These findings suggest that because working conditions have a negative influence on mental health, educational system for both inexperienced and experienced nurses is needed to develop an effective stress-coping style in medical institutions.