Stress Level and Coping Strategies among Baccalaureate Internee Nurses in Private and Public Teaching Hospitals in Peshawar

Abstract

Introduction: Nurses are a vital part of the healthcare system, which makes patient care and the delivery of healthcare possible. Nurses are involved in a very close and more interaction with patients as compared to other healthcare professionals. Nursing is known to be a highly stressful profession, due to the multidisciplinary nature of working as well as providing counselling and guidance to patients and their families. Nurses have been exposed to high physical and psychological stresses, negatively influencing their well-being. Objective: To determine the stress levels and coping strategies among generic internship nurses working in tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar. Methodology: A Quantitative Descriptive Cross-sectional study was carried out in tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar from June 2024 to December 2025 and included 169 internee nurses via a convenience sampling technique. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Coping Behaviour Inventory (CBI) were used for data collection. Results: Data was analysed from 169 nurses, with a mean age of 24.38±.635, n=78 (46.2%) were male, and n=91 (53.8%) were female. Participants were included from 14 wards, with the highest number of participants from orthopaedic (28), ICU (22) and gynaecology (21). Severe stress was reported in 29%, moderate in 61% and mild in 10% of participants. Overall stress was reported in 89% of private and 80% of government hospital nurses. Working on the night shift (p=0.031), the gynaecology ward (p=0.002), and the orthopaedic ward (p=0.037) had a significant association with occupational stress.