A study of anxiety, religious coping, and selected predictor variables in emergency room and intensive care unit nurses at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.

摘要

Problem. The problem of this study was to determine the relationship between state anxiety and religious coping in emergency room and intensive care unit nurses at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. The second problem of this study was to determine the relationship between trait anxiety and religious coping in emergency room and intensive care unit nurses at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. The problem of this study was also to determine the relationship between state anxiety and specified predictor variables. These variables are: gender, age, highest nursing degree completed, ethnicity, marital status, primary shift, average number of hours worked per week during last month, length of shifts assigned, overtime, years participant has been a registered nurse, years participant has worked in current department, years participant has worked in the organization, criticism by a physician, conflict with a physician, criticism by a supervisor, conflict with a supervisor, fear of making a mistake in treating a patient, performing procedures that patients experience as painful, death of a patient, not enough time to complete all nursing tasks, not enough staff to adequately cover the unit, and breakdown of computer, at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.;Procedures. Each participant received a sealed manila envelope containing the Research Consent Form, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory forms Y-1 and Y-2, the Brief RCOPE, and the Demographic Questionnaire. Each participant received a five-dollar incentive after submitting the completed surveys, sealed, in the envelope provided. The surveys were collected during the month of September 2007, for the emergency room nurses, and December 2007 for the intensive care unit nurses.;Findings and conclusion. A multiple regression analysis found that 35.8% of the variance of state anxiety was accounted for by three predictor variable: "not enough time to complete all nursing tasks", "tried to see how God might be trying to strengthen me in this situation", and "wondered whether God had abandoned me". A subsequent multiple regression analysis identified that four variables predicted 41.6% of the variability of trait anxiety: "wondered what I did for God to punish me", "tried to see how God might be trying to strengthen me in this situation", "not enough time to complete all nursing tasks", and "wondered whether God had abandoned me". Additional findings confirm prior studies that have associated anxiety, stressors and burnout in nurses with multiple variables, including criticism and conflict with supervisor and higher length of practice. Nurses with higher state anxiety endorsed more negative religious coping items such as feeling abandoned by God, feeling punished by God for lack of devotion, and questioning the power of God. They were also more likely to report criticism by a supervisor and conflict with a supervisor, to have worked a higher number of hours per week during last month and to have reported a higher number of years since becoming a registered nurse. These findings suggest that nurses with higher state anxiety were more likely to endorse spiritual discontent such as confusion and dissatisfaction with God's relationship in the stressful situation and to redefine a stressor as a punishment from God for individual sins. Conversely, nurses with lower trait anxiety endorsed higher positive religious coping in general, identified actions for spiritual cleansing and peace through religious actions, and were less affected by the death of a patient. Nurses with higher trait anxiety were more likely to endorse spiritual discontent, confusion and dissatisfaction with God's relationship in the stressful situation and to redefine a stressor as a punishment from God for individual sins. They were also more likely to be older, to have worked a higher number of hours per week in the past month, to have been a nurse for more years, and to have reported more conflict with a supervisor. Nurses with higher positive religious coping scores were less likely to endorse feeling like a failure, were likely to have worked a higher number of hours per week in the past month, were less likely to fear making a mistake with a patient, and were less likely to be affected by the death of a patient. Nurses with higher negative religious coping were more likely to feel frightened, were less likely to feel self-confident, and were more likely to report being generally happy. In addition, they were more likely to fear making a mistake in treating a patient and were more likely to be affected by the death of a patient. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).