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. 2021 Apr 8;4(1):53-71.
doi: 10.4314/rjmhs.v4i1.5. eCollection 2021 Apr.

Workplace Stressors and Coping Strategies of Intensive Care Unit Nurses at University Teaching Hospitals, in Rwanda

Thomas Munyanziza  1 , Busisiwe Bhengu  2 , Emelyne Umutoni Cishahayo  3 , Aline Uwase  1
Affiliations

Workplace Stressors and Coping Strategies of Intensive Care Unit Nurses at University Teaching Hospitals, in Rwanda

Thomas Munyanziza et al. Rwanda J Med Health Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Nursing is widely known as a stressful profession but intensive care unit is the most stressful; when nurses fail to cope with workplace, stresses' complications such as burnout and depression ensue, and this can compromise the quality of nursing care. In Rwanda, there is a limited literature about workplace stress and coping strategies.

Research objectives: To assess the workplace stress and coping strategies of intensive care unit nurses at University Teaching Hospitals.

Methodology: This study used a cross-sectional study design, recruited 92 ICU nurses through the census sampling method; ENSS and Brief COPE Inventory, while SPSS was used for data analysis.

Results: Eighty percent experienced moderate to high stress, while 19.6% had low stress. Married nurses tend to experience high stress than singles, while those with Bachelors or Master's degree were less likely to be stressed. Main stressors are care for suffering/dying, or agitated patients; and heavy workload, while main coping strategies were alcohol use, emotion support from friends and religion comfort.

Conclusions: Nurses experience workplace stress, while workplace stressors are nursing care for suffering/dying or agitated patients and heavy workload. The coping strategies were alcohol use, emotional support and comfort from religion.

Keywords: Workplace stressors; coping strategies; intensive care unit.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no known competing financial interests that could influence the work reported in this paper. One of the authors (UA) is supported by the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA). CARTA is jointly led by the African Population and Health Research Center and the University of Witwatersrand and funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York (Grant No-B 8606.RO2), Sida (Grant No:54100029), the DELTAS Africa Initiative (Grant No: 107768/Z/15/Z). The DELTAS Africa initiative is an independent funding scheme of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS)'s Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) and supported by the New Partnership for Africa's Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) with funding from the Welcome Trust (U.K.) and the U.K. government. The statements made and views expressed are only the responsibility of the Fellow

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