Perceived Stress and Coping Strategies among ICU Nurses in a Teaching Hospital at Al-Najaf City

Stress is a serious concern in the nursing profession. Stress among nurses is the result of exposure to a mix of working environment and personal factors, arises when nurses try to manage patient’s nursing care within the scope of nursing. The aim of the study was to assess the perceived stress and coping strategies of nurses working in the intensive care unit. The study design is quantitative study (descriptive design). To provide precise and representative data, a non-probability (purposive) sample was chosen. The total number of nurses participating in the study was (190) nurses from different teaching hospitals in Al-Najaf city. The results of the study showed that the average level of perceived stress was (20.5), and the majority of the study sample (69.5%) had a moderate level of perceived stress, while coping strategies (93.7%) were an adoptive response. According to the results of the current study and its discussion, the study concluded that the Perceived stress among the nurses working in the ICU was moderate and concluded that the coping strategies were an adaptive response. The current study recommends conducting a larger study of the remaining surgical and medical wards, and recommends providing a resting place for the staff in the intensive care unit, in addition to providing psychological courses to control the emotions of the workers in the intensive care unit and provide them with psychological support.