HARDINESS, STRESS, AND COPING STRATEGIES AMONG MID-LEVEL NURSE MANAGERS: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONTINUING HIGHER EDUCATION

nurse managers: Implications for continuing higher education. Doctor of Philosophy (Higher Education), May 2001, 141 pp., 22 tables, 183 titles. This study investigated relationships among hardiness, stress, and coping strategies among mid-level nurse managers in hospitals. Coping strategies were hypothesized to be positively related to stress. In addition, hardiness and its components were hypothesized to be positively related to stress and coping strategies. Demographics were hypothesized to be unrelated to stress, hardiness, and coping strategies. Both hardiness and coping strategies were hypothesized to be predictors of stress. Pearson correlation coefficients, multiple regression, and linear regression were used in data analysis. Stress was associated with specific coping strategies viz., confrontation, self-controlling, accepting responsibility, and escape-avoidance. High hardiness, particularly commitment and challenge, was associated with low levels of stress and with problem-focused coping strategies. By contrast, low hardiness was associated with high stress and use of emotion-focused strategies. Significant demographics, when compared to stud