Learning Objective #1: Provide information useful for nursing administrators designing programs to assist ICU nursing staff to deal with job stress

Learning Objective #2: Handle properly the difficulties generated by job pressures that are needed for the quality of nursing care to be improved

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This study investigated job stress and coping behaviors among 103 intensive care unit (ICU) nurses at a regional hospital in eastern Taiwan. A structured questionnaire that included several open-ended questions was used to collect data. The response rate was 95.14%. The average stress score of the ICU nursing staff was classified as medium. The largest stressor was "patients needed medical attention but doctors could not come immediately." The most frequently adopted coping behavior was "telling myself not to let the same thing happen again." Factor analysis was used to form stress and coping behavior subscales, and canonical correlation analysis was then used to examine the relationships between these subscales. The results indicated that there were no significant relationships between these subscales. In addition, participants who were younger, less experienced, or the second child of the in family had significantly greater job stress. Nurses who had previous working experience were more likely to employ avoidance coping behaviors. Furthermore, nurses who were single and had a professional registered nurse license tended to use compensatory coping more frequently than others. The results of this study may provide information useful for nursing administrators designing programs to assist ICU nursing staff to deal with job stress. Programs to help ICU nursing staff to properly handle the difficulties generated by job pressures are needed for the quality of nursing care to be improved.