Role expectations and coping strategies of practicing nurses

The purpose of this study was to explore the expectations held by new nurse graduates and nurse managers related to role conceptions and role discrepancies. This study also explored the coping mechanisms that the new graduate and nurse manager employed to deal with any role discrepancy they experienced. The sample for this study was composed of two groups, new graduates (n = 87) and nurse managers (n = 80), for a total sample of 167 subjects. Two instruments, the Pieta (1976) Nursing Role Conception Scale and the Osipow and Spokane (1983) Measures of Stress, Strain, and Coping--Personal Resources Questionnaire, were utilized to collect the quantitative data related to role conceptions and coping mechanisms. A semistructured interview was also conducted with 15 subjects from each of the two groups to provide additional qualitative data. Five research questions were formulated to guide this study. From the results of the study it was found that the new graduates and nurse managers revealed very little difference in their ideal bureaucratic, professional, and service role conceptions. A significant difference (interaction) was found between the two groups on their actual role conceptions for the service role. These findings indicate that both groups believed the service role, from an ideal point of view, should be practiced the most by the nurse. Additionally, in terms of actual practice of this role, the nurse managers were substantially different from the new graduates in their perception of this role. The findings also revealed that both groups had a drop from their ideal score to their actual score for the professional and service role and no change from ideal to actual in the bureaucratic role. Both groups were comparable in their ratings of the most ideal role conception, which was service, followed by professional, and lastly by the bureaucratic role. The actual ratings were not consistent with the ideal ratings beyond the service role, with bureaucratic being rated second and the professional role as last in terms of actual practice. The study also revealed that the two groups were very comparable in terms of the coping mechanisms they utilized to deal with the role discrepancy they experienced. Both groups reported utilizing coping strategies from the social-support category most frequently, followed by rational-cognitive, with self-care at third, and recreation as last. This exploratory study has indicated the need for more extensive investigation regarding the ideal and actual role conceptions of practicing nurses and the strategies they employ to cope with the discrepancies experienced