Occupational Stress and Coping Strategies of ...

Occupational Stress and Coping Strategies of Emergency Room Nurses in Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan

Author Name : Alfon Guiller D. Daga, MAN, RN

ABSTRACT

Various studies shows that major occupational stress for the nurses after disasters are excessive work demands, concern for their own, and their patients’safety. Having this premise, as magnitude of disasters interplay with cultural, economic and collective response;this paperwould like to investigate the occupational stress, coping strategies and relationships between occupational stress and coping strategies to emergency nurseswho were on duty two weeks after Super Typhoon Haiyan (circa 2013). A descriptive survey was implored to 22 ER nurses from six hospitals of Tacloban City. Questionnaire was adapted from Gholamzadeh et al., (2011) and Liu et al., (2010) for sources of occupational stress, while; Lazarus Coping Strategies Inventory (Tobin et al., 1983) to determine the types of coping strategies.Majority of the respondents were women ranging from 26-30 years old, single; and had been in the service for 7 to 10 years. Sources of occupation stress were unavailability of supplies, dearth of facilities, dilapidated physical environment, understaffing and unproportioned nurse-patient ratio. Coping strategies used were social support, cognitive reconstruction and problem solving.Physical environment, professional and workloads were among the principal sources of stress. Despite such, coping strategies were entreated through social support, problem solving and cognitive reconstruction.Emergency nursing after a disaster can cause eminent stress as there is a heightened demand for health services. Albeit, in the absence of mental healthprograms, nurses cope by themselves in order to continue health care services.

Keywords: Emergency nursing, nursing welfare, mental health, health care workers