Coping Mechanisms Utilized in School Nurses: A Qualitative Pilot Study

The purpose of this pilot study is to explore the coping mechanisms utilized by school nurses in response to stress encountered working in the high school setting. One aim of this research is to identify both positive and negative coping strategies by school nurses. A secondary objective is to determine some of the stressors these nurses experience in the workplace. This paper also seeks to find missing information in school nursing literature in order to identify areas of research that could be further explored as a result of this pilot study. This study consisted of five singular, phone interviews to a total of five high school nurses working in a singular school district in the state of Arizona. These interviews consisted of qualitative questions focused on stressful experiences and actions taken by the nurse as a response. Demographic data was also collected in an additional survey after the interviews. Additional literature was reviewed and patterns between literature and interview data were analyzed, as it was determined the data collected from interviews was not enough to reach data saturation. Thematic analysis was performed on the collected data to determine key concepts relating to coping by school nurses. The results of this analysis indicated number of factors relating to stress levels in the school healthcare setting and different coping methods. Themes often used in coping mechanisms included learning from experience, preventative teaching, communication, faith & self- reflection, sense of purpose, positivity, self-care versus neglect, and depersonalization. Due to the limited setting and results of this pilot study, additional research is indicated in the area of coping and stress in school nursing literature.